Officer killed in wreck never took a back seat

Simi resident Spree DeSha took the train each day to and from downtown Los Angeles where she worked as an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, and every day she chose to ride in the front seat of the first car.

Although technically off duty, she took her chair in full uniform, just to keep a lookout for problems and give passengers a sense of security. For DeSha, her work wasn't done until she hung up her belt at home.

But on Sept. 12, the 35-year-old officer never made it home. DeSha was one of 25 people killed when a Metrolink commuter train collided head-on with a freight train in Chatsworth.

North Hollywood Patrol Capt. Sharyn Buck said DeSha's practice of sitting up front in uniform exemplified the type of person she was.

"She was just that kind of officer, to sit in front and want to be there in case somebody gave somebody a hassle on the train," Buck said. "You wear the uniform knowing you have to step up to the plate if something goes wrong. She knew that, and she didn't mind."

DeSha's parents, Allan and Sha Moran, who live in Tucson, Ariz., said their daughter was passionate about the force and protecting her fellow citizens.

"She always had the personality that would fit perfectly with being an officer with the LAPD," Allan said during a press conference Monday afternoon. "She had the personality to help others and the ability to do it."

DeSha had only recently started commuting by train from Simi to Union Station after taking a job as a staff researcher/writer in LAPD's Office of Operations, which is housed in the department's headquarters.

A seven-year veteran of the force, DeSha had worked primarily on patrol, training new recruits. She spent the past three years working out of the North Hollywood Community Police Station before taking the administrative position downtown.

Lt. John Romero, also of Simi Valley, described DeSha as "squared away"—a military term that police use for "all-around good cops who have their act together."

"Squared away is a term that you use very rarely with probationary officers because they're learning, they're new, and she was that rare, squaredaway probationary officer," he said.

Romero, who works in the LAPD's media relations section, said he was surprised when DeSha gave up the streets for a staff job but knew she was doing it because she wanted eventually to be promoted to supervisor.

"She did six years on the street," he said. "She proved herself."

While she once dreamed of becoming a famous stage dancer—which is how she earned the nickname Spree in junior high—and even graduated from the Royal Academy of Dance, she found her calling with the LAPD, her father said.

Simi resident Laura Gerritsen, DeSha's life partner of six years, said that anyone who knew DeSha would describe her as "the most incredible person."

"She was such a giver and always really ready to listen to anybody," said Gerritsen, 37, who works in the LAPD's Valley Traffic division.

Describing their daughter as a compassionate person on and off the force, the Morans said she regularly gave to charitable organizations like the American Cancer Society—once shaving off her long brown hair for Locks of Love. Her Doberman pinscher is a rescue animal.

"She just had a zest for life in terms of doing things right," her father said.

Turning his face to hide the tears, he added that last Friday's crash "basically destroyed our lives in a second."

Police officers, some of whom knew DeSha, and rescue personnel saluted her body, draped with an American flag, as it was removed from the wreckage Friday night and carried to an ambulance.

The Morans visited the crash site over the weekend and, after Monday's press conference, toured the North Hollywood station to see where their daughter worked and meet the officers she worked with.

"I wanted to touch her locker because I know her hand was on it, and I just wanted a piece of her," Sha Moran said, struggling to hold back her tears.

She said her daughter's ashes would be buried in Arizona.

"She's coming home with us," she said.