Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Mia Goodwin left three children at home asleep when she reported to work early Wednesday morning.
Her newborn is 4 months old. Her other children are 3 and 1. She was married to Charlotte firefighter Brenton Goodwin. She had just returned to active duty from maternity leave.
“She’s a third-shift officer. Imagine trying to be a mother to three kids,” police Chief Johnny Jennings said Wednesday morning, just hours after the 33-year-old Goodwin died on Interstate 85.
Police work, he acknowledged, is not for everyone. “But I do know that she knew it was for her.”
Goodwin — mother, wife and cop — died in the line of duty around 3:40 a.m., Wednesday in a collision of two semi-trucks at Interstate 85 and W.T. Harris Boulevard in northeast Charlotte.
The trucks struck multiple CMPD cruisers, injuring Goodwin and three other officers who were helping direct traffic in the aftermath of an earlier accident, which happened Tuesday night and had closed down the interstate. The other injured officers were taken to a nearby hospital and later released, Jennings said.
Goodwin was the last cop to arrive Wednesday morning in relief of co-workers who had been directing traffic at the accident scene since 10:30 p.m., Jennings said. She was declared dead there. Afterward, a procession of police cars accompanied her body to the medical examiner’s office.
“This is a day of sorrow for @CMPD and the entire City of Charlotte, as we mourn the loss of Officer Mia Goodwin,” Mayor Vi Lyles said in a tweet Wednesday morning.
During a news conference, an emotional Jennings said Goodwin is believed to be the first CMPD officer killed while stationed at a traffic accident scene since the 1980s.
“Today, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is hurting,” he said. “We mourn the loss of a police officer ... a good, good one. And the profession hurts, our city hurts.”
Donations for fallen police officer
The local chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police announced it would be accepting donations for her family.
Two GoFundMe pages have been set up for Godwin’s family, a spokesperson for the fundraising site told the Observer.
Goodwin joined CMPD in October 2015. She served in the University City Division in north Charlotte.
Jennings, who acknowledged during his news conference that he did not know Goodwin personally, said he had learned that she was popular with current and former officers, and hoped to expand her role at CMPD, seeking guidance from others on how she could advance.
“I can tell you from my conversations is that she was an inspiring young woman who wanted to do more,” Jennings said. “She was someone who felt like she had a lot to offer in this profession, resilient. And she loved the people around her ... the people that she worked with.”
Jennings also spoke of the plans the Goodwins had for themselves and their young family.
“It’s one of these situations where we recognize now that life is not guaranteed,” he said. “Life is short. And we have to embrace it.”
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