DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — A veteran Broward Sheriff's Office dispatcher has died from the novel coronavirus at a Delray Beach hospital.
Nikima Thompson died Monday night after testing positive for COVID-19 last month, Sheriff Gregory Tony said Tuesday.
Thompson, 41, hadn't been at work since March 26 and had been hospitalized for several weeks. She is the first known dispatcher in Florida to die from the virus.
RELATED: More coronavirus headlines
"The dedicated work of our communications operators is vitally important," Tony said in a statement. "They are often the unsung heroes who the public first encounters when they call for help. Like her colleagues, Nikima often served as a lifeline, connecting 911 callers to public safety responders. Her loss is deeply felt by all of her BSO family."
Thompson's death comes a month after Deputy Shannon Bennett died of the coronavirus. The 39-year-old deputy was a 12-year veteran of the BSO.
Her body received a deputy's escort from Delray Medical Center to the dispatch center in Coconut Creek, where Thompson worked, so grieving colleagues could say goodbye. The hearse carrying her flag-draped casket then continued on to a Hollywood funeral home.
The mother of four had been employed as a BSO dispatcher since 2003. She was born in Miami and graduated from Miami Norland Senior High School in 1996.