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Widow of murdered NYPD detective gives birth to his daughter more than two years after his death

Pei Xia Chen with her newborn daughter, Angelina, known as Angel - NYPD
Pei Xia Chen with her newborn daughter, Angelina, known as Angel - NYPD

The wife of a murdered New York policeman has given birth to their daughter two and a half years after his death.

Wenjian Liu was killed in December 2014 while sitting in his patrol car in Brooklyn. His partner, Rafael Ramos also died when Ismaaiyl Brinsley walked up to their vehicle and fatally shot them.

Hours earlier, Brinsley wrote on Instagram: “I’m Putting Wings on Pigs Today.’’  He later committed suicide.

Wenjian Liu - Credit: NYPD
Wenjian Liu, who was killed in December 2014 Credit: NYPD

As Liu lay dying, his new wife – they had married three months previously – was asked whether she wanted to preserve the 32-year-old’s semen.

And on Tuesday Liu’s widow, Pei “Sanny’’ Xia Chen, gave birth to a baby girl, who she named Angel, in tribute to her murdered husband.

Maria Dziergowski, whose husband Matt, also a member of the New York police department, was killed in the line of duty in 1999, said that Mrs Chen had a dream on the night after she was inseminated.

“Wenjian was there in a white gown looking like an angel and that he handed her a baby, and he said, ‘It’s a girl, a little angel,’’’said Mrs Dziergowski. “So she knew before everyone that it was a girl."

NYPD baby - Credit: NYPD
Wei Tang Liu and Xiu Yan Li with their granddaughter Credit: NYPD

Liu’s parents, who live in Brooklyn, went to the hospital to see their new granddaughter hours after her birth, said Mrs Dziergowski.

“The parents were very emotional, crying and holding the baby,” she said.

Liu was 12 when he and his parents emigrated to the US from Guangzhou, China, in 1994.  He and Mrs Chen were living with his parents at the time he was killed.