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Widow of slain NYPD officer gives birth 2 years after husband's death

The widow conceived using sperm that had been preserved from her husband the night he died in an ambush against him and his partner.
/ Source: TODAY

The widow of a New York City police detective who was fatally shot in an ambush more than two years ago has given birth to the couple’s baby girl.

Pei Xia “Sanny” Chen gave birth Tuesday to a daughter she conceived through in vitro fertilization using sperm that had been preserved from her late husband. She named the girl Angelina.

Chen was a newlywed when her husband, Detective WenJian Liu, and his partner, Det. Rafael Ramos, were gunned down on Dec. 20, 2014, while sitting in their patrol car. The shooting suspect fatally shot himself in a nearby subway shortly after the ambush.

The New York Police Department, which released a photo of Chen and her baby, said the widow had requested that her husband's semen be preserved on the night he was killed so that she could eventually have his child.

Pei Xia Chen and her new daughter, Angelina.
Pei Xia Chen and her new daughter, Angelina.NYPD News

Chen told the department that the night after her husband's death, she dreamt he handed her a baby girl. When she later got pregnant, she told a friend she was having a girl.

"My friend said, ‘No, you haven’t even checked the sonograms,’ but I was right," Chen told the NYPD.

Liu’s parents, Wei Tang Liu and Xiu Yan Li, were present at the hospital for their granddaughter's birth.

Wei Tang Liu and Xiu Yan Li hold the newborn daughter of their late son, New York Police Det. WenJian Liu.
Wei Tang Liu and Xiu Yan Li hold the newborn daughter of their late son, New York Police Det. WenJian Liu. NYPD News

Chen said she looks forward to telling her daughter about her hero father. She also is eager to introduce her daughter to the New York City Police Department, which she refers to as her “big blue family.”