IMPD Remembers First Female Killed in Line of Duty

Source: Ryan Hedrick / WIBC

INDIANAPOLIS –Thirty years ago, IMPD officer Teresa Hawkins was killed in the line of duty when a drunk driver ran a stop sign and hit her squad car, pushing it into a nearby home; she would later die at the hospital. Hawkins was just 28 years old at the time. The driver, Elvis Lacy, had several felonies. Police say his blood alcohol level was more than two times above the legal limit.

“Five and a half years, she wants to be a police officer,” said her brother Joseph Hawkins. “She got a full-ride scholarship to Ball State for criminal justice. She wanted to be a police officer. She loved Charlie’s Angels; she wanted to be an angel. Little did she know, she would be one of God’s angels?”

Hawkins was the first IMPD female officer killed in the line of duty. On Thursday, she was honored at the north district station during roll call. Several leaders from IMPD, including current Police Chief Randal Taylor, were in attendance.

“Elvis Lacy had 17 felonies when he hit Teresa,” said Hawkins. “He should have never been walking the streets. Some of these people have 20 and 30 felonies, and they’re still walking the streets, and they slap them on the wrist; something has to change on that end of it.”

Over the years, Joseph says that the IMPD family has remained close to his family. He says he thinks about his sister frequently and remembers her as an energetic, kind, and loving person.