Officer Tiffany Enriquez remembered: ‘She will always be my hero’

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Never take a moment for granted.

That’s the message a teenager is sharing as she mourns the loss of her mother, one of two Honolulu police officers killed Sunday in a violent rampage in the Diamond Head area.

Officer Tiffany Enriquez’s daughter, Jazmyn, told Hawaii News Now that she knew the risks of her mom’s job ― and added she is so proud to be her daughter.

“Let Hawaii not remember this as a day of loss but a day God was blessed with two beautiful angels," said the 17-year-old, in a statement shared with permission from her father.

“My mother has definitely left her legacy for this world and I’m proud to be her daughter.”

Her oldest daughter, Teiya, added that her mother was a true role model to others.

“My mother served and protected our country as an Air Force veteran, she protected the great state of Hawaii as an HPD police officer," she said. “I love my mother and she will always be my idol. This truly hurts but I understand the sacrifices and choices that she has made. She will always been my hero.”

Enriquez, 38, was a seven-year veteran of the Honolulu Police Department and assigned to Waikiki/

She was a mother to three girls and also had a grandson. In addition to serving as one of Honolulu’s finest, she was an Air Force veteran.

That’s where friend Whitney Lawson met her.

“Enriquez was like a big sister to me," she said. “I loved her. I loved everything about her.”

Lawson met Enriquez during basic training and for the next two years she says they were attached at the hip. “She was one of those people who caught you off guard with how strong she was,” she said.

“She out did a lot a lot of guys physically. She was amazing because she was also a boss mom,” Lawson added. "We all knew what she was doing was for her kids.”

Lawson says she remembers Enriquez talking about wanting to join HPD while they were still in tech school. And she takes comfort in knowing she had achieved that goal.

“She was doing something she loved. I know she was very passionate about the police force and law enforcement,” she said.

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