An ‘act of kindness’ costs an off-duty detective her life, Los Angeles sheriff says

Stopped at a red light Sunday, off-duty sheriff’s detective Amber Joy Leist saw a woman fall down in a crosswalk and got out to help her, the Los Angeles Times reports.

But as the 41-year-old mother of two walked back to her vehicle afterward, she was hit by another car in the Valley Village neighborhood at 11 a.m., KNBC reported.

The other driver stopped and tried to assist Leist, who later died at a hospital, the Los Angeles Times reported. Authorities are investigating her death as an accident.

“It’s one of those things that, when it did happen, what was she doing? She was helping somebody. That’s a quintessential deputy sheriff,” said Sheriff Alex Villanueva, KABC reported.

A vigil will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday for Leist at the intersection of Whittsett Avenue and Riverside Drive, KNBC reported.

Leist, a 12-year veteran of the department, was a detective at the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department wrote on Facebook.

She leaves two sons, a 20-year-old in the U.S. Navy and a 17-year-old, KTLA reported.

“It was heroic for her to go out that way,” said son Daniel Laney, 17, KTLA later reported. “I love her for that. She’s always had a kind heart.”

“She was an outstanding detective who would lead by example, and she definitely led by example through her act of kindness, and we consider this an on-duty death,” Villanueva said, according to the station.

Residents and fellow officers have created a makeshift memorial to Leist outside the West Hollywood station, KABC reported.

This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 10:50 AM with the headline "An ‘act of kindness’ costs an off-duty detective her life, Los Angeles sheriff says."