A 53-year-old Los Angeles police sergeant died Tuesday from complications related to COVID-19 — the second such death in a week for a department that, like the city around it, is being ravaged by the coronavirus.

In the last three weeks alone, nearly 1,000 of the Los Angeles Police Department’s 13,000 employees have tested positive, according to department leaders.

Sgt. Amelia “Terry” Martinez, a mother of three who was described by the department as “a bright shining star” in the Hollenbeck Division, is the fifth LAPD employee overall to die as a result of contracting COVID-19. She had been with the department for 27 years.

“Her passing is a loss for not only her brothers and sisters here in the Department, but for the people of Los Angeles who she dedicated her life to protecting and serving,” the department said in a statement.

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