Talk Murder to me: The SEHIA Podcast

Episode 13: The Erik Hite Foundation with Nohemy Hite

• SEHIA • Episode 13

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In this episode, Joe and Joanna are joined by Nohemy Hite the widow of Erik Hite and founder of  the Erik Hite Foundation. To follow up from the previous weeks podcast with Det Bill Hanson on Erik Hites murder, Nohemy agreed to join us and tell her experience with the passing of her husband, handling her grief while raising their young daughter and how the support of Tucson Police Department lead to the start of the Erik Hite Foundation. We were honored to hear her raw emotions on such a tragic situation even 18 years after and how it shaped her life and career path. SEHIA is honored to support Nohemy and the Erik Hite foundation at the 2026 conference in Tucson in September.   erikhitefoundation.org

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This podcast is intended for educational and discussion purposes only. Case studies and investigative topics are presented from the personal perspective of the guest and are not intended to represent official findings, agency positions, legal conclusions, or the Southeastern Homicide Investigators Association.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome back to the show, Joanna. It is uh it's good to have you back on the show with me. How are you, ma'am? I'm doing pretty good. How are you? I'm good. Um so last week we had on our show Detective Hansen, and uh something really special to Sahia because this year um we have chosen the Eric Height Foundation as our um as our charitable foundation that we're going to support this year um at the conference. And so we had Detective Hansen on last week uh to tell us all about the investigation to Eric Haidt. Um but this week we have an even more special guest. Um Joanne, will you talk about it?

SPEAKER_01

We're really excited this week to have Noemi Height with us so that she can kind of tell us, you know, you got to hear last week about the law enforcement side of the investigation, but what is so interesting is knowing how that affected his family and how uh his wife kind of had to pick up the pieces at that point and move forward. And, you know, as you guys know, Joe said we're supporting the Eric Height Foundation at the CIA conference this year. So it's really great to see um you know how that organization started and kind of understand the background with it uh so that we can support it when we're out there in Tucson.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Noemi, thank you for joining us today. How are you today, ma'am?

SPEAKER_02

I'm doing well. Thank you for having me. We are I appreciate yeah, the invitation.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. We're glad to have you. We're we're joined together with three different time zones in between us. And so let me tell you, that has often caused some issues. As a matter of fact, before this meeting, I text Joanne and I said, Hey, listen, trying to figure out my time zones. Are we like 30 minutes from showtime? And she said, Yeah. I said, Okay, good. All right, so notoriously bad with time zones. Man, it is the worst. We actually, true story. Um, we uh we missed a really special event one time. Me and my wife did. We were driving and we we missed it because of a time zone. So that was interesting.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I took the I took the fall for that, of course. But so Naomi, thank you for being here today. Tell us a little bit about your family. Where are you guys at?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. So um I'm originally from Honduras. Uh that's where actually Eric and I met. Okay. Um back in the 90s, a very long time ago. Um, he went there for an assignment when he was in the Air Force. And I used to work on base, and that's how we met. And so my entirely, my entire family is from Honduras and remains in Honduras um because of that transfer that Air Force um brought us to Tucson. They this month in Air Force Base, and that's how we ended up in Tucson in 2000. Um, so that's 26 years ago. So family related, it's just my daughter and I here. My entire family remains in Honduras, and we visit, they visit. Um, but a lot related family is just the two of us, and then just a huge big blue family that we have. Oh, yeah, and our friends and um dear, you know, church members and our community that we have. So that's great.

SPEAKER_00

What's your favorite Honduran dish to cook?

SPEAKER_02

To cook, I'm not a good cook, but oh stop. Um, I will say um they're called baleadas. So you have to look it up. It's this flower tortilla, yep. Flour tortilla um with really delicious uh beans and um and our own type sour cream in there and um some people eggs, it is delicious. It's is a very, very typical dish, Honduran dish. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So I did some mission work in El Salvador for years and years, and I had what they called papoosas. Um I'm maybe maybe you've heard of papuzas, okay.

SPEAKER_04

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

So um I have crafted the art of making cortito, and uh I try to make papoasas. Let me go ahead and tell you it's not the greatest thing in the world, but I try and eat eat the the cortito, so it's really good. But I will definitely have to try that. I'll have to look that up.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. They're called baleadas, but the papusas from El Salvador are delicious.

SPEAKER_00

So glad to be able to do that. Very good.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, you tried them.

SPEAKER_00

My mouth is watering thinking about it. It's also dinner time where I'm where I'm at.

SPEAKER_02

I was gonna say dinner time here too, almost four o'clock. Yeah, making me hungry.

SPEAKER_00

Very good. So you are um you run the Eric Hyde Foundation, correct?

SPEAKER_02

Yes, yes. I started the foundation in 2009 uh with a very small group of friends. So yeah, founder and now uh CEO um 18, 19 years, 17 years later.

unknown

Wow.

SPEAKER_00

So in 2000, you guys move from Honduras up to Tucson, Arizona. You start your life together. Um, when were you and Eric married?

SPEAKER_02

Uh in late nineties. We married, uh, we came here to the states. We got married when we we went back to Honduras for another year of his assignment, and then we came back to the States. Um, yeah. Um, and we started here in Tucson. And we loved it. We loved the high, you know, the dry heat. Um, he's he was from Northern in California, and I was I was from a very humid weather, and enjoying this dry heat really, you know, was different for us, and we loved it, and we decided to stay here.

SPEAKER_00

That's exciting.

SPEAKER_02

That's really cool.

SPEAKER_00

When yeah, when did Eric decide that he wanted to be a police officer? Obviously, he was an airman um in the air force, and uh and and he came to the states, and then one day he has to tell you, honey, I think I'm gonna be a cop.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, actually, I met him as a cop. Oh, he was he was a cop in the air force, he was uh the security forces, yeah. Very interesting. Um yeah, so his grandpa was a correctional officer, and his dad was a correctional officer. So law enforcement was in his um family. As soon as he uh signed up to be in the air force, he was not even 18 when he committed to being the Air Force, uh, 17 years old, and he went as a uh security forces and did 17 years of security forces in the Air Force, and then he cross-trained to be a first sergeant in the Air Force, the last three and a half years of being in the Air Force.

SPEAKER_04

Wow, interesting.

SPEAKER_02

And so we love Tucson, and that's why we decided to retire, but he was still very young when he retired from the Air Force. He's like, I can go through an academy. I'm like, you're almost 40. He wasn't yet, you know, 37 probably. Yeah, I'm like, you'll be probably the oldest recruit there. I said, Are you sure you want to go through all the running and physical stuff? And he's like, Yeah, I can do it. He was actually the oldest in his class. And um, yeah, all the running and all those tests he passed and he loved it. Um, he actually, when we decided to retire, um, he started applying to several law enforcement agencies, including Border Patrol. Okay. Yeah, uh, we want to remain, you know, at that federal level kind of thing. But Tucson Police Department called him first. And that's when he decided to go with TPD. Uh, six months with that he was in with TPD already, Border Patrol called him. Because, you know, federal takes for a long time to process their stuff. And so, but he had been with TPD for six months, and so he says, No, I'm enjoying, you know, TPD, and I'm gonna stay with TPD. So um, that's where he decided to continue being a police officer at the city level.

SPEAKER_00

That's awesome. And what a great department. Um, Joanne and I got to tour the department when we came for our site visit for uh back in the spring. And um I I was listen, I I come from Middle Tennessee, and the department, the largest department that I was that I've been with is is about uh 600 employees now. And and I was floored to see um how how wonderful the Tucson Police Department was. And then furthermore, how great they took care of their employees uh through the mental wellness program and and just a whole bunch of different things. We were we were greeted with smiles and uh open doors, and it was just it was just a really an awesome experience.

SPEAKER_01

And so uh Yeah, everybody was really great out there in that meeting. And and Joe's right, like when they took us around the corner and like this is the peer support mental health unit, it was just huge. The number of resources and people that they have in that unit is really cool to see. I mean, I don't know necessarily what it was like back in 2000 when Eric started, but uh it's pretty impressive today. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah. This is actually most recent, more recent uh implemented in that department when Eric was with TPD from 2004 to 2008. There was none of that. And so um there was a lot of that that came um you know after Eric. And yeah, I I love what TPD does, especially in the most recent leadership that that the department has had in the last um four or five years, and now with uh Chief Prieto in there and all the wellness that they um have implemented, especially in the last five years, is amazing. And yeah, how how the morale has grown so much in the department in terms of knowing that their immediate leadership uh will take care of them.

SPEAKER_01

So yeah, it's really important to be able to know that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02

Exactly. Yeah, yeah. And and you know, that's why we're here. One of the reasons that we actually, Erica Foundation is housed here at the Tucson Police Department, thankfully, um, because of the relationship that we've uh created over the years with the TPD, not just because Eric was a Tucson police officer, but just the impact that the Erica Foundation is making in the lives of our public safety. Um, but just uh being here supporting their wellness initiatives, and we help them with a couple of their programs. Um, we become the fiduciary of donations, um, pass-through organization um for them to continue with their um wellness initiative. So we're very proud of that relationship that we have.

SPEAKER_00

That's really good. When when you started the organization in 2009, did did you immediately go to to to Tucson PD and ask to be housed there? Or was that something that got built over time?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, that was built over time. Um at the time that I had started with the foundation, I was in the in the very, very early stages of my grief. Um, you know, time I had lost Eric in two in June of 2008. I was looking for so much of my purpose in life. We had barely a year old baby, you know, that um that we were waiting for seven years, and we finally had a daughter. And um, between raising her and trying to be physically and emotionally engaged with her at that time, I also was trying to navigate my own grief and and feelings. And um the Erica Foundation thought you know, happened a year later, and the department was supporting me through all my grief. Through, I mean, even I remember providing uh support with officers that became our friends, uh, officers that actually there's one very special officer. Um, she's actually a sergeant now that took care of my daughter the night of the incident at the hospital, um, where I had to be with Eric. Um, and since we don't have family here, that was the first 24 hours. My family had not arrived yet. And so I handed my daughter out to whoever was there in front of me. And I needed to be with Eric. Um, hours later, I found out that she has been sleeping. Her name is Melissa on her Melissa's chest. Melissa in full uniform. You know, she was part of the peer support at that time. She came and took care. She's a mom herself, so she knew how to handle a, you know, a one-year-old, although unknown. We didn't know her. She didn't know Samantha. And so it was all this very difficult situation at the hospital. Um, but even the weeks after the department, the sergeant from the team where Eric was um from the squad that Eric was at, uh, very supported through the weeks um of just that physical support having some of the officers at our house. I felt very um unsafe, even at home. Um, it was very, very, it was very, very public. Um, even the media uh was coming at our house. So there was a lot of those shifts of different officers at our house trying to shelter us from that. Um, it was even hard for me to go to the grocery store.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Um, it was just the two of us, you know, and my daughter was barely a year old. Um, a lot of that. So a lot of support that I got from the department. My liaison from the department also said, you know, the chief has said, whatever you need, we're here for you. Um, we know you don't have family in town, so we are your family. And um, so a lot of that happened in the early uh days, um, not yet uh with the relationship in terms of the Eric High Foundation, because that happened, you know, a year later. Yeah. But I started creating that relationship with um the chief and try to, you know, remain not as demanding and only ask for help when I really needed it. Um, but they were there to support in whatever way we could. Um and uh once I became um and proposed the idea of the Erica Foundation, there was really a lot of support for sure from the department. And housing the Erica Foundation here happened uh later when um now retired Chief Casmar um uh became the chief and he knew the situation of the Erica Foundation because we we became friends actually when he was he was a sergeant when Eric's incident happened. Uh but then when he became a commander at the station where Eric worked, um the first time that I have received a phone call from a commander from that station to tell me, I'm the new commander here. Here is my phone number. This is my self, my personal cell phone number. You call me if you need anything. For me, that was that was huge. And this was probably about like five uh years later, after I had lost Eric, and feeling that they were still there to support me. So we became really good friends because I I had felt that wow, it's even five, seven years later, and there's this new commander at Eric Station invited me to go to their Christmas party, invited me to be you know be a part of that station's, you know, family and and and not want it to be forgotten. Um, so we became really good friends. When he became a chief, um, he knew that I was working from home or I will work from a coffee shop. Um and he's like, no, you know, let's let's try to find a place for you at the police station. And we've been here for about you know three, four years almost. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That's really that's really awesome. And and and I guess that probably it's really good to have that relationship there because you're able to have your ear to the ground, so to speak, and you see issues and you see things that need attention and you see people that need help and you're able to offer assistance, I would assume, right?

SPEAKER_02

Yes, correct. So we we build that very strong relationship with where he knew my um my passion for serving our public safety. Um, and we became that pass-through organization. There has been injury officers, line of duty officers, or even from the department now. And it's just one call from the chiefs and said, Can you help us with this? And I said, Done, consider it done. You know, just like open um a donation page. And I said, Yep, no worries, it's gonna be up and running in the next hour. Um, so he knew that um we were here to help in any way. Uh, we have collected, you know, donations for uh line of duty death, injuries, um, and uh in helping families in crisis with mental health and things like that. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So on top of those things that you just mentioned, what all does the Eric Haidt Foundation uh participate in as it pertains to helping folks? And who do you help specifically? Let's let's talk about that too. I'd like to know that.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so there was a little bit of confusion at the beginning in 2009 because Eric was a Tucson police officer, and they thought Erica would Eric Haidt Foundation was helping just Tucson Police Department families, and that wasn't the case. What happened is at Eric's funeral, I so well actually started when I arrived at the hospital, and all I could see um was lines of uniform of police officers in uniform from several departments and fire departments in there. Um my mind is like, okay, I need to get to Eric, but that was my first impression. And then my second impression of so many uh agencies together was as he at his funeral.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So Yeah, was it isolated to Tucson PD?

SPEAKER_02

It's had a lot of support from yeah, and not not just the Tucson Police Department or law enforcement, but there's so many other agencies on the fire side, on the military side. Well, he was also military, but from all over the place. And um, the same way that I felt everybody became one agency, and though in that moment, one department um is what I wanted to capture with the Erica Foundation. So that's why we served so many different departments. And um over the 17 years that we've been in operations, we have uh served over 30 different departments and agencies around southern Arizona, um, between military branches uh and law enforcement and and fire districts. So the the goal is to provide resources that I didn't have to the officers' families. Um and we started in 2011, we opened our child care center with extended hours and affordable uh fees, because that was the one thing that I didn't have when we were at the crossroad of okay, do I go back to work or do I stay home because Eric is still a rookie and he's working weekends and nights, and my job is Monday through Friday, eight to five, and I'm not gonna see him. And here I am having someone else raise our daughter, but I'm paying 80%, 80 80% of my paycheck into children.

SPEAKER_00

Is the juice worth a squeeze at that point? You gotta figure out.

SPEAKER_02

Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and that's definitely something a lot of law enforcement or firefighters, you know, the people who don't have the standard Monday through Friday, nine to five jobs, it's hard. Daycare is, you know, close for Christmas, my daycare closes for Christmas, but my job's open on Christmas. So, you know, you always do have to try to figure that out. It's definitely difficult.

SPEAKER_02

Exactly. And so I remember having this conversation with him at dinner before we decided if I was gonna go back to work when our daughter was almost six months old. And he says, Don't worry about it. You know, it has taken us seven years to have a baby, and then um 80% of your paycheck is gonna go there, and we're not gonna see each other, we're not gonna have time as a family. So let's see if we can supplement your income with overtime or off duty jobs, and um, and you stay home at least for the first five years until the baby goes to school. And so that was our plan.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So needless to say, you know, three months after that conversation, we lost them. And uh my passion was. To create this child care center that provided that flexibility in hours where families could have a decent dinner, see each other, and afford to have their child in a child care with extended hours for those on you know weekends and nights and holidays. And that's what we created in 2011. So it's been 15 years since running in operations, first one in the nation. And thankfully, after that, we have helped other districts and other law enforcement agencies to create their own and uh hundreds and thousands of families uh that we've been able to help um with this program. So that's that was our first insignature program. It's still running, still running strong.

SPEAKER_00

It's phenomenal.

SPEAKER_02

And um, yeah, we've always had a long waiting list and different things. So we are always trying to figure out how we can do renovations around our center to create extra space for more kids and more families, um, and and have a strong operation in terms of turnover and um longevity and you know, staff that are gonna remain with us to create that family feeling for the families and the children. Um so that retention is big for us too. Just retention like it's important for everybody in in this line of duty for officers. Is retention is important to us to make sure that we remain with the same teachers and assist, you know, just just to the families get that family uh atmosphere and um connect with our staff. Uh, but we have been able to help the departments to keep their female officers in work. Over the years, I I remember quite a few lieutenants and sergeants saying, You've got to help this officer. I don't want to lose her, but this officer does not have any help uh with their child care. Can you help? And several occasions have we made room in open spots for uh those circumstances and been able to help um female officers to remain with their departments and in this line of duty, uh, providing their childcare.

SPEAKER_00

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I feel like the especially with women, because you know, the that expectation, that you know, instinct for being a mom, that doesn't necessarily jive with law enforcement, right? So it's hard for you to go work a 12-hour shift, it's hard for you to be, you know, not home for the holidays. That's difficult. I mean, it's difficult for men too, of course, but I do think that the stigma exists more with women. So it's easier for a woman to step back then in this line of work and and not pursue a career, not maybe even pursue moving up in a career or two because of it.

unknown

Sure.

SPEAKER_01

Um, but when you're talking about these dates, I just want to say how impressive it is that in 2011 is when you opened that daycare. And now that's only three years after you have lost your husband and your partner in life. You're raising one year old now, you know, obviously what about three or four by the time this opens. That's yeah, an incredible timeline, which is incredible that you've managed to handle, and maybe you don't feel like you did handle, but you know, you're going through grief, you're raising a small child, that's hard enough for anybody with a partner, and then you lose your partner. It's impressive what you managed to do by 2011.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, thanks, Joanna. Yes, uh, there was a lot of sleepless nights. Oh, I'm sure it was again, you know, my daughter was barely one. Um, I always have to keep track of these dates because we lost Eric in 2008, but she was born in 07 and foundation was open in 09. So it's like, okay, 17, 18, 19. My daughter's now 19 year olds old, but at that time she was barely a year old. And you know, you're a mom, and a lot of our your listeners are parents, and one-year-olds sleep a lot. And so um during the night, I I was not able to sleep, I was not able to eat. And so what did I do? Just hop on my computer and start learning, start reading. I wanted to just focus on something positive. I uh the the trial had not even started. It didn't all the legal stuff was not was not even in process. I will receive some letters from from the court that there will be a hearing here and there, and I attended every single hearing, but he was not sentenced until uh four and a half years later. And so I I didn't want to have to be thinking about all my my grading plus all the legal stuff that I had to understand and learn. Uh and you you have to understand also that Eric wasn't just my husband and my friend, he was that um teacher for me, showing me his culture, learned learning the language for me. All this whole definitely court thing, yeah, this whole court thing and trial and all this different language and terminology was very out of you know my mind, and I didn't even want to deal with it. But I I at the same time I wanted to represent him well, I wanted to honor him, I wanted to make sure that justice was done and I was gonna do everything I could. So there was a lot of those um nights where I was, if I did not have this Eric Hye Foundation purpose in my mind, I would have gone, you know, mad, honestly, in terms of my brain just taking me to places where I should not have gone through my grieving process. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Well, and for you, places you wouldn't be able to go, you're you gotta raise a kid, you know, no matter what.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly. And and when I did hit almost those moments is when I reached out for help, is when I said I need help. And I started seeing, you know, a psychologist twice a week at the you know, that first after the first year. So there was a lot of I I have to force myself to learn about the Erica Foundation. If this is something good that is gonna come out of this horrible thing, then I will concentrate and take all my time into it, raising my daughter and my other baby was the Erica Foundation at the time. So that there was a lot of time that I invested. So um, yeah, in the first three years, there was a lot of learning about fundraising, learning about how to put, you know, a nonprofit organization, how to file for uh a small business, you know, from at the city level, uh, learning just all of those things uh from from scratch, um, from the you know, and not only making it run successfully, but but funding it.

SPEAKER_00

You know, we we have a we have an association that's I don't know, 17 people large on our board, and we all work throughout the year to try to raise money for it. I mean, at this time you were just by yourself with a couple friends trying to make this like a successful thing. So get it off off the ground. My goodness, I I can tell you right now, it's hard for us as a team of 17 um and we're not grieving. I mean, you you're an inspiration, I mean, truly, to be able to get that going. I mean, let me ask you this. How many states um do you reach um currently with your your child care program? Or what states are you in? If it's just Arizona, that's fine too. I just didn't know.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, it's only in Arizona, but over the the 15 years that we have had the child care center, I have given time and consultation hours to over 12 different departments around the nation, uh, from Florida, California, um, Baltimore. I mean, I have a list.

unknown

Sure.

SPEAKER_02

And, you know, hours of um being on the phone with whether it's just you know an officer who wants to start this because she's going through that, you know, a very young officer. That was the case of San Diego PD. A very young officer um called me. She was the first one who called me. I'm a single mom, you know, I'm a very brand new officer with San Diego PD, and I've read about you. Would you help us? And I said, Yeah, but you're gonna need a lot of help.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

So put me in contact with put me in contact with the association or whoever you need to, um, because I I understand the single mom thing, uh, but you're not gonna be able to do it alone. And so I'm here to help. Um, let's just put me in contact uh with the uh people that is going to back you up on this, and then we'll take it from there. So from a call like that, you know, you just want to make sure that you give everything that that you know about what I what you learned. And I and I did. There were hours of consultation with San Diego PD, uh and again North Carolina, um, yeah, so so different, many different departments, emails back and forth, and um people that have um have read our story, have heard the impact um that we have made in our own city and wanted to do um something similar in their areas in communities.

SPEAKER_00

So aside from the Child Development Center, you also um host some classes, um some adult workshops and some wellness retreats for youth. Is that correct? And some support groups. Tell tell us a little bit about that, if you don't mind.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, and so over the years, again, this is all based on our own experience, starting with the child care and our own experience. And then as I was raising our daughter over the years, I was thinking, wow, it's really hard to, you know, send my daughter or send I and I'm a single mama, well, if only one child, I can only imagine a parent or or even if it's a couple raising their own kids with two kids and sending their kids to a summer camp. Um, summer camp, even even a summer camp for a week is super expensive for one child. So that's where in 2015 the summer campus scholarship initiative started. And it's a reimbursement program. Parents pay for their child to go to a child uh to a summer camp of their choice. And we're talking about other different families that we reach out through the child development center. These are older kids that may not go to our child care center, they may be at a at a different school. Uh, so these are families that um apply for this scholarship and we help them send their kids and stand in staying engaged uh throughout the summer. And that was another program that we started in 2015. Um in 2016, we started uh the Are You Prepared uh workshops, adult workshops. We we have talked about what when I when I titled it, Are You Prepared? I started by sharing my story. Sure. I was not, you know, where are what are the things that Eric and I talked about that we wanted to do, but we never ended up doing. One of the first things that I talk about is estate planning. Estate planning, a will, life insurance, those kind of things.

SPEAKER_01

We got to uh the things you think you have more time to think about, right? Absolutely. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02

And we we talked at least in four and a half years that he served as the police officer. We talked at least three times. We're you know, this is important, this is a very dangerous career. And honestly, Eric was known as a shit magnet in the department. Yeah, he came home with broken ribs, broken nose, you know, bloody and purple eyes all the time. Um, in four and a half years. And so we did talk about this for at least three times in that four-year and a half mark, and we never got to do it. Um, the state planning. So having to go through that by myself in the middle of grieving, it took me three years by myself to put that five that document finally, especially around the circumstances that I had. I didn't have anybody, you know, family related. If I died through my, you know, my circumstances where I was uh in that year, something happens to me if I'm not able to manage my grief, and who's gonna take care of my daughter?

SPEAKER_04

Sure.

SPEAKER_02

None of that was in writing. So having to navigate all that, uh, feelings and emotions and and making very tough decisions. Um, I had to rely a lot on again blue family and really good friends to say, would you be my daughter's guardian? You know, if you if I if I if I died. So a lot of that um I started sharing with this are you prepared um event. And many families came to me and said, Thank you. I travel safe now, safely now, knowing that I have a state planning. I have a will now. And uh so I focused a lot of that on the first, you know, four or five years of that workshop. Um, and then we've been switching different topics. We talked about mental health, we talked about help, you know, being ready for a line of duty.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Uh as much as you can be, right, with this topic. Uh, but I have had spouses, significant others in a room um asking very tough questions, you know, about what would they do if their husband is the one, you know, in facing the line of duty uh death.

unknown

Sure.

SPEAKER_02

Um and recently last year, we touched space on retirement. There have been so many retirements in, you know, just the Tucson Police Department experienced retirement of 12, 13 members in one month. That was June of last month, July of last year.

SPEAKER_04

Wow.

SPEAKER_02

And um so we talked about retirement of the emotional part of it. You know, who do you who who are you after you're retired? So sure, not about, you know, not about if I'm gonna be financially stable or safe, but it's like who am I after I retired?

SPEAKER_00

Well, certainly I think so many police officers or first responders in general, um they wear an identity that is, you know, I'm I'm a policeman. I'm Joe the cop. And and at some point we're all gonna have to set our gun and our badge down, and we lose that title instantly. Like everything that we've worked for in in you know, a career, whatever that looks like 18 years, 25 years, 30 years, 40 years, whatever it is, you walk away from it in one day and you lose your entire identity in a moment. And so yeah, that that that's that's really good that you're that you're talking about those things and and helping officers through that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's funny because we have a mental health liaison on our board, Mark. Um, we've had him on the podcast too, and he's talked a little bit about it. But when Mark does his presentation and his talk about you know mental health and what he struggled with, you know, one of his main points is that there's life after retirement, there's life after the badge. And I remember the first time he said that, I'm so far from retirement that I don't think about those things. I should almost have this this talk will make me think about them. But when he first said that, I was like, well, that's kind of a funny statement. Of course there is. But then when you get to know people who, like Joe said, they have this as a career. This is something they've done their entire life. This is what they know how to do, and especially law enforcement. A lot of people get into law enforcement very young in life. Um, and so it does become an identity. So it is really important message that you know there is life after it, but that is something you have to think about. That is something you have to, you know, acknowledge and recognize that that grief is going to exist there. And what are you gonna do about it and how are you gonna move forward?

SPEAKER_02

Exactly. Yeah, and so we wanted to be very intentional about bringing people who had just retired a year or with within a year or two or three years, because that you know, that stage uh after you retire is when you start facing um those identity issues.

SPEAKER_01

Like that critical time.

SPEAKER_02

That critical time, yeah. I had uh ran into one of good friends here from the department, he was in SWAT for gosh, as long as I can remember. Um 15 years at least, he was in SWAT. And he, when I ran into him here at in the department, I said, Hey, how are you doing? I heard you're retired, and he just shook his head and he says, I'm not doing well. Oh I'm not doing, I'm not doing good, knowing me. I I don't know who I am. And so that that conversation, we stayed in the hallway talking for an hour, and I said, Wow, I didn't realize that you know this was real. And um, I actually had him speak last year about his um his experience, you know, with the separation between um, you know, so many years with the department, and now I don't know who I am, kind of thing. Yeah. So that's yeah, that's the purpose of the are you prepared? And in the last year, like I said, we did this um retirement who are you after retirement part, and we're gonna do it again in the fall of this year. We got really good feedback on that.

SPEAKER_00

Where do you normally host your events?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, different areas, different venues in town. We try to stay away from the stations because you know there's a stigma associated with it.

SPEAKER_04

Sure.

SPEAKER_02

There's a stigma uh about it, and you spend so much time at the station, you don't want to come back for a workshop.

SPEAKER_04

Ugh, no. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And so we partner with different either a church or we partner with a business that have a great conference, um, that want to donate their you know, in-kind donation of allowing us to use their it's something it's a it's a neutral place where you just feel relaxed, you feel that it's not attached to your job, it's not attached to uh your career, and you can be yourself. So we we do it intentionally, you know, uh outside the work.

SPEAKER_00

So I'm I'm certain being connected with the Tucson Police Department and being right there, you get a lot of referrals by word of mouth. But I'm sure there's a lot of folks that don't talk about it until one of the like, man, I need help. How do people find you?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. Um we uh thankfully we have really good relationships with, like I said, not just DPD, but so many other departments. Um and we we send out our flyers, our information to the decision makers at the department, whether it's the chief or whether it's the chief of staff, whoever is in charge, and they keep sending our information to their employees and letting them know hey, Erica Foundation is here for you and for your family. Reach out if you need this help or any kind of help you need.

unknown

Sure.

SPEAKER_02

Erica Foundation would have resources for you. So there's a lot of that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That's really good. When we were down there in the spring, we actually saw a flyer. I'm not exactly sure what it was. Um, I don't recall.

SPEAKER_01

It was a race, some kind of run. You guys had a you guys to run. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yep.

SPEAKER_01

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02

Yes. That's uh that was in May, beginning of May. So you probably were here in the in April. And yeah.

SPEAKER_01

End of March. Yep. March. End of March. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Oh, yep. And so uh yeah, we put posters all over the place and um at different stations, different departments. And um in fact, we just about two weeks ago, I contacted all the chiefs and directors of different agencies, and we sent out another survey about child care assessing the need of this year of childcare. There's so many new officers, so many new families and all different departments. And we got great responses. We got really good data. Um, uh, because you know, Erica Foundation wants to keep growing and expanding and making a greater impact. And and uh yeah. Just allowing that strong relationship that we have with the departments, allowing us to go in the in in the officers' lives and said, Oh yeah, Ari Kai Foundation, I'll contact them because, you know, X, Y, or Z and we're there for them.

SPEAKER_01

It's a really cool organization because, you know, there is a lot of support and resources when something very unfortunate happens and an officer dies in the line of duty. You know, that there is a lot of the community coming together and a lot of that support. But you acknowledged it yourself that, you know, that that could tend to die out over time. And you're saying, you know, you got that contact from the commander five years later and you were impressed or you know, happy to know that you know your your story was still there, your support was still there with the agency. But you know, that isn't always the reality. So the fact that Eric Height Foundation focuses on needs that officers have now in life while they're raising their family, while there it doesn't take a tragic loss like that to get that support. That's really a cool focus. Because, like I said, that those funds exist when something tragic happens, but when it's just people trying to live their daily lives in the field, there's less support, less funding, less organizations that focus on that. So it's really cool to know that that support exists without that tragedy. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Um, the community, the business community, the strong supporters of the Erica Foundation uh know the story, and they probably got engaged with the foundation because of the story at the beginning. But once they see the impact that we are uh making in the lives of a firefighter that has a wife with four stairs uh you know four-stage cancer, and we're there to support them, or our supporters uh and donors know that there was this officer with two kids, or one of their child has this really rare disease um, you know, diagnosis, and he needs help. Um, sharing all those stories with uh our community, sharing those stories with our donors, um, you know, that impact goes beyond Eric's story at this point. You know what I'm saying? We used and I used that story and that platform in 2009. But we have we have walked away so much of that. Yeah, the impact of his life and legacy, um, it will always be there. And my my goal has been honor his memory to honor his memory. But 17 years later in counting, it has to do more with the real stories that we have now.

SPEAKER_01

The real Yeah, the origin story is still always there, but you guys are evolving to yeah.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah, to to the officer with you know the the real issues right now and uh that we're gonna be there for them. And so that kind of reputation, that kind of impact uh makes our donors to keep engaged years after years. I have donors that have been donating to that foundation since 2009 and have never worked away. Um, and donors that have increased their donation because of the impact. Um, one of my goals has been humanizing really our officers and our and our firefighters and saying, yeah, before Eric put that uniform on, he left me at home pregnant in bed because I had to be bedridden for five and a half months to have a baby. And he came home after a 10-hour shift to cook and clean the house and feed me before he went to work another off-duty job. And so that's all he did that for five and a half months before we had a baby. We had to actually ask my older sister to come and help us because he was getting burned out. He was getting with a lot of, you know, he his full-time job, he's overtime sometimes. And I was bedridden with this big belly, expecting our baby, making sure that this time we were gonna have a baby after three miscarriages. And um, and because of that story, there's so many other officers that who do they leave at home? Sick, almost dying, whether it's an agent parent, whether it's a wife, whether it's a child. And um, if we are not that uh organization that makes those stories real to the community, community, the public doesn't know. They just see this officer in uniform, and we expect the officers to do what they're supposed to do and trained to do.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's definitely a big thing right now, too. I mean, there's a huge stigma with law enforcement and not being able to see law enforcement as humans, whether it be, you know, a reaction that the public sees from bodyborne cameras, or you know, just you said it perfectly, you need to humanize law enforcement to see that you know, it isn't just someone putting a uniform on and wearing a badge or being an authoritarian. It's someone's going to work. If they have someone at home, they have their own struggles just like the rest of us do. So that's definitely true.

SPEAKER_00

Directly behind that badge is a big old heart.

SPEAKER_02

Yes, exactly. Yeah, exactly. Our gala coming up in November at the end of the month, uh at the end of November of this year. Um, that's our theme. Unmask our heroes. And we're gonna hear, we're gonna hear uh very real stories of families that we were able to help this year, um, with really heartbreaking stories. And they never stop. Some of these officers have never stopped working, you know, putting their uniform on every day, go to work and come back and deal at home with what they're dealing with. And there's a lot of that, that honorable, respectful men and women with integrity, they still go to work and they put a really nice face, dude, they do an amazing, excellent job, but their hearts are breaking at when they get home. And so there'll be stories like that um in our gala this year.

SPEAKER_00

That's exciting.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So how do you receive donations for the Eric High Foundation?

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, so our website is super easy. We've tried to you know make it as as easy as possible with that one donate button uh there on our website, eric highfoundation.org or r-g. And um that's probably the easiest um thing to to do, to donate. Um checks are always you know accepted as well. Um, but we do have those main uh events, the the run that you sew that we have in the spring, and then um that gala that is coming in the in the in the fall. Uh that's the signature event, and we're hoping to raise $280,000 this year. Yeah, that's our goal. Um and uh in the business community are rallying up around us and you know, buying different uh sponsorship levels and buying tickets, and um, so it we love that event because in this huge ballroom of uh you know almost 500 people, um, 60, 70 percent of that is community members and business community, and then the rest is beneficiaries, you know, whether it's officers or firefighters and active military, and and we all have a great time being you know there for each other and supporting and now knowing that 80% of what is raised there goes to our programs, goes directly to the families.

SPEAKER_00

That's wonderful. Yeah, that's absolutely wonderful. So, uh, you know, obviously you you're a nonprofit, so you you seek to survive by by donations. What what are your immediate needs as an organization right now? Um is it just that? Is it just the donations, or is there other needs that you have?

SPEAKER_02

It's just the donations, any uh, you know, nonprofit. Um I I was taking a uh workshop the other day on endowments, um, funds and all of that. And uh the Arizona Community Foundation showed us a um a slide that says that by 2030, um, which is right right around the corner, uh foundations are going to be um funded through uh endowment funds, if you know, because found donations are shrinking. Uh and so certainly people are afraid to donate now more than before. Um, so any nonprofit is is driven and is needs funds like that, unrestricted funds, obviously, because it helps us with the operation you know cost and um making sure my team is strong to in order to deliver all these um programs. And uh so yeah, the donations, unrestricted, unrestricted donations is the way to go.

SPEAKER_00

Well, we'll definitely make sure we have a link to the to to the Eric Heidt Foundation uh on the show notes of this show for sure. But for anybody that's listening, the Eric Heidt Foundation, it's E-R-I-K-I-H-I-T-E foundation.org. And uh we'll make sure that we we put that out on our social medias and things like that.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

So we are we're tickled to have you guys um this year um partner with us at Sahia and and part of our um mission is to is to give back. And so this year we're just really excited to give back to your foundation. Um we see what you do, especially in the in the Arizona, uh the Tucson area, and we're thankful for what you do for the officers. Um this is my 18th year in law enforcement. Um I've seen a lot of officers uh come and go, deal with tragedy, and uh something like this in my area would have been absolutely would be absolutely phenomenal. And so uh I'm thankful to the officers that are in your area, the first responders, the military that have you to lean on um when tragedy strikes them. So thank you for what you're doing very much, um, especially in your husband's honor.

SPEAKER_01

Um we uh we're we're yeah, it's been really cool to kind of get to hear that origin story of the Ericite Foundation, especially like as you were talking when you just started, you know, that you're not even from this area, your family doesn't even live in this country. So, you know, I already knew what was coming, the tragedy was coming, but to know you did that without family here, to know you created this organization so soon afterwards, and then I have an 18-month-old to know that you did that with a one-year-old at home, you know, that it's just a really inspiring story. And to hear you talk about how passionate you are, you can tell, you know, how good the origin is of this organization and how well you're honoring Eric's name. It's very cool.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you. Thanks, Joanna. Thanks, Joe. Yeah, I I love what I do. Um, I don't feel that this is even work for me. Um, I have I have donated all my time, all my passion, my resources for 17 years. I love what I do, I love my team, I love my board of directors and my volunteers and donors. And I just I love and miss Eric every single day of my life.

unknown

I'm sure.

SPEAKER_02

But none of this would be happening if um if he was here. We will be probably drop in our daughter to college this fall together, um, if he was still here. And officers and families that we have impacted would not have been impacted. So as much as I hate that he's not here, at least we're doing good things.

SPEAKER_01

Um, definitely.

SPEAKER_00

Well, thank you. Thank you for again for what you do, for um honoring Eric the way that you do. Um because of because of what he the sacrifice that he made, you've helped hundreds and hundreds of officers. And uh and I know that he's looking down, just smiling happy at you.

SPEAKER_04

So we thank you. Thanks.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for telling us about the Eric Hyde Foundation. We're incredibly excited to be partnering with you. And um, we look forward to hearing more about what what your foundation is going to continue to do in the future.

SPEAKER_02

Absolutely. Thank you so much for yeah, thanks for having me, and thank you for uh selecting the Eric Hyde Foundation for the conference. I look I'm looking forward to that.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Yeah, that's well, thank you so much. We really appreciate you.

SPEAKER_02

Thank you guys.

SPEAKER_00

Thank you. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_02

Bye.

SPEAKER_00

And that wraps up this episode of Talk Murder to Me, the Sahia podcast. If you found value in today's conversation, be sure to subscribe, share this episode with a friend or a fellow investigator, and be sure to leave us a review. It really helps us reach out even more to the Hamaside community. For training opportunities, upcoming events, or to connect with us, visit us at sahia.org. That's eitia.org. And follow us on all of our social media accounts. You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, and until next time. Talk more. This podcast is intended for educational and discussion purposes only. Case studies and investigative topics are presented from the personal perspective of the guest and are not intended to represent official findings, agency positions, legal conclusions, or the top page on how much investigative association.