The La Mesa Police Officers’ Association have almost reached half their goal Thursday in a fundraising campaign for 25-year-old Lauren Craven, a La Mesa police officer who was killed in the line of duty while assisting a motorist at the scene of a crash on Interstate 8.
The motorist was also killed.
The deceased motorist was identified as 19-year-old De’Veonte Morris.
“He was just my rock. I don’t even know how I can even live or think or eat or drink or sleep without him. He was heaven on earth,” Morris’s mother, Annesha Meekie, said about her late son.
Meekie added that her son was a beautiful soul who was responsible and respectful – and that Morris’ father, Tyree, died on the same day three years ago.
There is a GoFundMe fundraiser to support Morris’s family, launched by Green Elementary School, where his little brother attends kindergarten. As of early Thursday afternoon, nearly $4,000 has been raised toward the $9,000 goal.
Officials have not yet released information regarding the person whose vehicle struck Craven and Morris.
Officer Craven, a Bend, Oregon native who turned 25 on Oct. 7, was aiding a driver whose car had overturned on the eastbound side of the freeway at Fairmount Avenue in San Diego when another vehicle struck them shortly before 10:30 p.m. Monday, according to the La Mesa Police Department.
David Craven, Lauren’s father, said his daughter wanted to dedicate her life to being “that good cop” for anybody who needed her.
“Every day we would talk on her way home from work, which was six in the morning, or on the way to work,” he said. “She loved it. She loved getting up to go to work. She was excited to get out there and serve.”
Craven, who joined LMPD in February 2024 and was assigned to its patrol unit, died at the scene, as did the driver involved in the initial crash.
“On behalf of the entire La Mesa Police Department, I want to offer my deepest condolences to Lauren’s family and friends,” LMPD Chief Ray Sweeney during a news conference Tuesday afternoon. “We grieve with you, and we will stand with you in the days and years to come.”
Sweeney described Craven, a 2023 Loyola Marymount University graduate, as “a light.”
“Her positivity was immediate and genuine,” he said. “Whether helping a colleague, answering a stranger’s question or stepping up into a difficult case that she was working, she led with compassion, courage and professionalism.”
“In an effort to support the family of Officer Lauren Craven, the La Mesa Police Officers’ Association has launched an official Fund a Hero campaign,” the police association said in a statement. “All proceeds will go directly to her family.”
The association’s goal is to raise $50,000 for Craven’s family, and as of early Thursday morning contributions to the fundraiser had reached $22,811.
Times of San Diego staff contributed to this report.
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