Widow of NYPD officer killed by drunk, cop-hater holding blood drive in his honor: ‘Everything is to celebrate his life'
Giving was in his blood.
The widow of a veteran NYPD cop killed by a drunken hit-and-run driver is holding a blood drive in his memory Tuesday.
'My husband was a blood donor himself and I know it's something he loved to do for others,' widow Irene Tsakos told The Post. 'That was his nature. It was to give — to give of his time and his blood.'
Det. Anastasios Tsakos, a father of two, was killed by drunken, hit-and-run driver Jessica Beauvais on the Long Island Expressway in Queens on April 27, 2021.
Prosecutors said the 34-year-old was high on drugs and had a BAC of .15 — nearly twice the legal limit —when she slammed her 2013 Volkswagen into the 14-year NYPD veteran while he was working an accident scene around 2 a.m. and then took off.
Just hours earlier, Beauvais was on a live podcast posted on Facebook that showed her downing drinks — including several shots — while spewing anti-cop sentiment.
A judge later sentenced Beauvais to 27 years in prison. The 43-year-old police officer was posthumously promoted to detective.
'It was very difficult what we went through,' said the widow, who made news when she ran out of the courtroom in tears as prosecutors showed gruesome photos of her husband's injuries.
'We're trying to move on with our lives,' she said. 'We are beginning to heal.'
Her son is now 7 years old and her daughter just turned 10. The family lives in the Northport home the couple bought six months before his death.
'This is to honor him, to celebrate his life with people who knew him and people who knew of him and to help save others,' the widow said. 'Everything is to celebrate his life and to help others.'
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