Cleveland Police Officer Ashley Hibbard Found Dead Of Suicide
Mentor, OH December 27 2019 – Cleveland Police Department (CPD) Officer Ashley Hibbard was found dead at her home early Monday morning.
Police said that the young officer took her own life, WOIO reported.
“This morning at about 0300hrs. A Police Officer from the last academy Class assigned to the 5th district was found expired in her home from a broken and sick heart in Mentor, Ohio,” CPD Chaplain Rabbi Sruly Wolf said, according to the Northeast Ohio Medical University Police Department (NEOMED).
“This young officer was involved in a chase this week in which a 13 year old was struck and killed by the suspect in East Cleveland,” Wolf continued. “My sincere condolences to her family and to the officers of the Cleveland Police.”
Tamia Chappman, 13, was killed on Dec. 20, when a 15-year-old armed carjacking suspect crashed into her as he was fleeing from police, The Plain Dealer reported.
She was walking to the library at the time.
It was unclear whether Chappman’s death was a factor in the 32-year-old officer’s suicide, but Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association President Jeff Follmer confirmed that she was involved in the investigation, WOIO reported.
“She always had a way of making you feel loved and special,” according to her obituary. “Her contagious smile and joyful heart will have a lasting impression on all who knew her.”
Officer Hibbard leaves behind her mother, Therese, as well as her sister, Amber.
She is also survived by her stepfather, stepsiblings, grandparents, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.
Officer Hibbard will be laid to rest on Dec. 30.
