KTLA

Vigil honors slain former police officer in Lancaster

Friends and family of a slain former Los Angeles Police Department officer gathered in Lancaster on Sunday to remember him and pay their respects.

Darryl Lee’s friend Aisha Marshall described him as a “sweetheart” who was funny, kind and generous.

“It’s hard because never in a million years would I have thought that he’d be gone,” Marshall said.

Lee’s sons echoed Marshall in describing their father’s generosity.

“The last thing he did was give the man that we believe killed him shoes, and that’s how beautiful his heart was, and now he’s gone,” one of Lee’s sons said.

Lee was found stabbed to death in Palmdale at about 4 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, and his stepson, Tyrell Gay is “a person of interest” in the case.

Gay is considered armed and dangerous, and members of the public should call 911 instead of approaching Gay if they see him, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

Anonymous tips can be provided by calling Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477) or by visiting lacrimestoppers.org.

Tyrell Gay, 29, shown in this undated photo, is a person of interest in the stabbing of his stepfather, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. (LASD)