{"id":17501,"date":"2014-01-29T19:29:54","date_gmt":"2014-01-30T00:29:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/?p=17501"},"modified":"2020-01-31T20:00:20","modified_gmt":"2020-02-01T01:00:20","slug":"kevin-levi-42","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/?p=17501","title":{"rendered":"Kevin Levi, 42"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Levi served his department for over 15 years.<\/em><\/strong>
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\u00a0<\/em>St. Petersburg, FL \u2013 Pinellas County Sheriff\u2019s Office (PCSO) Deputy Kevin Levi died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The 42-year-old deputy\u2019s body was found inside his residence at approximately 6:35 p.m., the PCSO said in a\u00a0press release<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cDetectives say Deputy Levi suffered from a self-inflicted gunshot wound,\u201d the department said. \u201cThe death is considered a suicide.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0post on Wednesday evening, Deputy Levi\u2019s wife, Lauren, said that she and those who were closest to her husband are \u201cstruggling to accept the reality that he is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe light has gone out of our lives,\u201d the grieving widow wrote. \u201cOur hearts are completely broken.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lauren described her husband as a \u201cfunny, smart, and passionate\u201d man who was also \u201cthe epitome of class and grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a way of making everyone feel included, safe, and wanted. He was dedicated and driven, compassionate and caring. He was our protector – and he was your protector, too,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Deputy Levi joined the PCSO in July of 2004, and was assigned to the Patrol Operations Bureau, according to the department\u2019s press release.<\/p>\n

He received multiple commendations and \u201cawards for bravery, selflessness, and skill\u201d during his 15 years of service, Lauren said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe saved lives, calmed children, and rescued as many dogs as he could, often taking them for ride alongs in his cruiser before dropping them safe and sound at the emergency vet,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

In addition to his wife, Deputy Levi also leaves behind his parents, stepfather, sister, stepsiblings, and many friends and extended family members.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0fundraising page<\/a>\u00a0established to help pay for Deputy Levi\u2019s memorial service has raised over $17,000 so far.<\/p>\n

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Pinellas County Sheriff\u2019s Office Deputy Kevin Levi, both blood and blue. Thank you for your service.<\/p>\n

Rest easy, hero. We\u2019ll hold the line from here.<\/p>\n

Shared from Blue Lives Matter:\u00a0<\/a><\/h6>\n
Add your loved one to the wall<\/a><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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Pinellas County Sheriff’s Deputy Kevin Levi served his department for over 15 years. \u00a0St. Petersburg, FL \u2013 Pinellas County Sheriff\u2019s Office (PCSO) Deputy Kevin Levi died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Tuesday. The 42-year-old deputy\u2019s body was found inside his residence at approximately 6:35 p.m., the PCSO said in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-memorial-wall"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lutzlivetotell.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}