A candlelight vigil honors
the memory of Orange County Sheriff’s Office deputy Scott Pine, who was shot and killed in 2014. His 8-year-old daughter even spoke about her “hero.”
Haley Pine was 6 years old when her father, Orange County Deputy Scott Pine, was shot and killed while chasing a burglary suspect.
She’s 8 now. And as the second anniversary of her father’s death approached, Haley decided she wanted to speak at the candlelight vigil planned to remember him.
On Thursday, in front of dozens of family members, friends and law enforcement officers, she climbed onto a white step-stool and spoke quietly into a microphone.
“My dad was a hero,” she said. “... He was a cool dad. My dad is watching us from heaven. I love him.”
She then asked everyone standing in front of the Westminster Landing subdivision park named after her father, just down the street from where he was killed, to light their thin white candles.
She got off her step-stool and stood next to her two brothers — 6-year-old Ryker and 3-year-old Maddox — as their mother helped them light their candles.
“They’re very impacted by not having their father around,” said Pine’s widow, Bridget Pine. “All three of my children grieve very differently. My youngest, of course, only knows his father by a picture. And my two older ones can be very emotional at times, or even act out at times.”
The children understand more about death now, Bridget Pine said. And day-to-day life can be difficult.
“I’m by myself a whole lot, and so it’s very difficult to take care of three babies,” Bridget Pine said. “But they’re wonderful children, and they help as much as they can around the house. I’m so blessed that I have them, because they are what helps me to continue.”
Pine was killed on Feb. 10, 2014, while chasing a suspect in a series of car burglaries. The suspect, 28-year-old Benjamin Holtermann, fired his stolen handgun at Pine three times. Two of the shots hit Pine’s bulletproof vest. A third went through his armpit, piercing his chest. Holtermann then shot and killed himself.
His girlfriend and accomplice, Erica Pugh, was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
The state Senate voted unanimously Wednesday to increase pension benefits for spouses of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. The Pine family’s lobbying inspired the bill.
Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said the bill was moving slowly through the house, and encouraged people at the rally to contact their state representatives.
“We have made a solemn promise to this family that we would stick with them through the years, and this is part of honoring that commitment,” he said.