Shamekia Goodwin-Badger, age 33, was transported to Level I Trauma Center Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge on Thursday, according to a news release from Wheeling Police Department. The Wheeling Police Department release does not specify the type of training police were doing or the cause of her death. An unconfirmed report by an unnamed source states that she suffered a pulmonary embolism or blood clot in her lung, which is the same medical condition that killed former Chicago police officer and Law & Order actor Dennis Farina at age 69 last Monday. She collapse Thursday, and never regained consciousness.
Goodwin-Badger worked for Wheeling Police Department during the midnight shift with specialties as a youth officer and evidence technician.
Officer Shamekia Goodwin-Badger was a five-year veteran of the Wheeling Police Department and also a four-year veteran of the Hawthorn Woods Police Department. She was also a decorated army veteran who served in Operation Enduring Freedom in Kuwait and Iraq. Shamekia was a Florida native, who had a 13-year-old daughter, according to the news release.
Wheeling Police Department lauded her as “compassionate and understanding.”
On the street, she was also known by other first responders and citizens as a person with a bright, warm smile. “… No matter what was happening in one’s life, you could always go to her for a word of encouragement and a guaranteed smile,” according to the Wheeling Police Department news release.
A wake and memorial service are scheduled for Wednesday from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Kolssak Funeral Home, 189 South Milwaukee Avenue, Wheeling. Shamekia Goodwin-Badger will be laid to rest in Florida.
Bunting displayed at the Wheeling Police Department Headquarters following the death of Wheeling Police Department Shamekia Goodwin-Badger.
Village of Wheeling flag half mast on Community Boulevard in Wheeling at the Wheeling Village Hall.
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