UPDATE: The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office will hold a vehicle procession for Deputy Abigail Bieber to a private funeral service on Wednesday. You can read more about the procession here.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has identified the deputy murdered in St. Augustine by her boyfriend Detective Daniel Leyden who also worked for the sheriff’s office.
According to the sheriff’s office, Deputy Abigail Bieber patrolled the northwest portion of Hillsborough County. Deputy Bieber, who was 30 years old, had worked with the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office since February 2018.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office says Deputy Bieber aspired to one day become a detective within the Criminal Investigations Division Special Victims Section.
Squadmates called Bieber ‘a bright spot in a dark world’ with fellow co-workers describing her as a young woman with a positive attitude who never shied away from tough investigations while also being kind, genuine, caring, and empathetic with the demeanor of a veteran law enforcement officer.
“Deputy Abigail Bieber was an outstanding law enforcement officer, and by all accounts, an even better person who left a positive impact on every member of her squad and the countless members of our community who she encountered while on patrol,” said Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister. “This tragedy has left our Sheriff’s Office family grief-stricken. There is a void within our hearts that can never be filled, but I hope that Deputy Bieber’s legacy will be the way she lived her life, as a selfless servant.”
The sheriff’s office says the deputies were vacationing when Leyden killed Bieber and then turned the gun on himself.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been finalized.
If you or someone you know are experiencing abuse and need help, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE.
The Spring of Tampa Bay has a 24-hour crisis hotline: call / text (813) 247-safe • tty: (813) 248-1050 and more information on their website, https://thespring.org/