TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) - A 19-year-old woman is preparing to follow in her father's footsteps by pursuing a career in law enforcement, 18 years after he was killed in the line of duty.
Tucson Police Officer and U.S. Air Force veteran Erik Hite was killed in 2008 after being ambushed while pursuing an armed suspect. He left behind his wife, Nohemy, and his daughter, Samantha.
Samantha Hite was just 1 when her father made the ultimate sacrifice. She says his memory and the people who knew him best are shaping who she is and who she wants to become.
"I can feel him, I can feel his personality. People telling me, my family, my uncles saying 'wow you're really like him, you're really social, you like talking to people,'" Hite said. "So just knowing I grew being like him and his habits, it made me feel closer to him."
Those stories from family, friends and the officers who proudly served alongside Erik are helping inspire Samantha's own dream of one day wearing the badge herself. This fall she's headed to Daemen University in New York to study criminal justice.
"Since I was little, I've gotten tours around the police department fire department just being in the law-enforcement environment has been great for me to see the rooms equipment," Hite said. "All of that made me really want to go into this field and pursue what my dad did."
Sergeant Melissa Ayun worked alongside Erik back in 2008. She was with Samantha and Nohemy at the hospital the day Erik passed away.
"I responded to the hospital and somehow I was the only person that could take her and she would stop crying," Ayun said. "So she slept on my chest that night."
Now, nearly two decades later, Ayun says she sees the same qualities in Samantha that she saw in Erik.
"She possesses all the qualities that would make her good at it," Ayun said. "I think he would be beaming with pride."
Samantha says she's ready to continue the Hite legacy in her own way.
"Carrying on my dad's last name, I want to inspire people by carrying his passion for connecting on a different level and an emotional level with people," Hite said. "And I want to make people feel heard feel seen, that they're not alone. And I want to make an impact on the community the same as he did."
Samantha leaves for college this weekend. After graduating, she hopes to return to Arizona and wear the badge of the Tucson Police Department or another law enforcement agency in the state.