Mourning family members and law enforcement colleagues came together Tuesday to honor the life of a young La Mesa police officer who was killed in a suspected DUI crash as she was assisting a motorist at the scene of a freeway accident.
A ceremonial motorcade consisting of hundreds of police vehicles from an array of agencies traveled from Mission Valley to Rancho San Diego prior to the late-morning funeral services for Officer Lauren Craven.
She died on Oct. 20, 13 days after her 25th birthday at the scene of the late-night multiple-vehicle wreck on Interstate 8 near Fairmount Avenue.
Also killed was De’Veonte Morris, 19, the driver Craven was assisting when a sedan driven by a DUI suspect struck them on the eastbound side of the freeway.
During Tuesday’s memorial, La Mesa Police Chief Ray Sweeney praised Craven, a 2023 Loyola Marymount University graduate who was assigned to his department’s patrol unit, as a “remarkable police officer, colleague and friend.”
“Lauren, her smile and her resiliency is a light that will shine forever on our La Mesa community,” Sweeney told the gathering at Skyline Church on Campo Road. “She loved what she did. She loved the community she served.”
The chief quoted a statement that Craven wrote during her hiring process: “It has always been my passion to serve others, and there has never been a doubt in my mind that being in law enforcement is what I am meant to do.”
“These are Lauren’s words,” Sweeney said. “And if you ever had the privilege to work with her, alongside her, you knew it wasn’t just a line. It was the truth. From day one, Lauren carried herself with the quiet confidence of someone who’d already figured out what she was meant to do. She didn’t stumble into this career. She ran towards it – towards the danger, not away from it.”
Sweeney described Craven as “an officer who cared deeply about her partners, her community and the badge she wore.”
“She didn’t just serve – she connected,” he said. “She had a way of calming people down in tense situations, of making others feel seen, respected and safe. That was her gift. She represented the very best of what it means to be a La Mesa police officer.”
La Mesa Mayor Mark Arapostathis told the gathering that Craven, whom he’d met shortly after she was hired and interacted with as she worked various civic events, was always “personable, professional, kind (and) approachable,” adding that she cared, (and) she wanted to help.
Several of Craven’s one-time training supervisors told the somber gathering about the young aspiring officer’s initial challenges. A tall but slim young woman, she had to work hard to pass the required physical-fitness tests and had to repeat her police-academy processes after twice failing to a pass a firearms test, the speakers said.
Thereafter, Craven became a model of preparation and achievement as a fledgling cop, turning into a competent and reliable officer despite her youth and brief experience in the field, according to the colleagues who shared their memories of her at the funeral.
Craven’s father related how her initial trepidation about whether she truly had what it took to succeed in police work turned into determination and hard-won results.
“She looked at the physical requirements and said, `I can’t do these,”‘ David Craven told the gathering. “But she still had a year and a half left in college, so she started training … Well, when she showed up, she wasn’t going to win the three-mile competition, and she wasn’t going to dominate any of the physical elements, but with the support of the other recruits and leaving everything she had on the table, she got through it.”
The grieving father described getting regular early-morning calls from his proud police-officer daughter after she completed her overnight shifts, eager to fill him in on her experiences in her new career.
“I’m going to miss the hugs, the visits, the trips – most of all, those calls at six-thirty in the morning,” he said. “They were like gold. I’ll have my memories. But most of all, we can all take comfort that she reached her dream.
“With the help of the academy (training officers) and further training from her fellow officers, she became a fully fledged officer of the La Mesa Police Department and (got) all the opportunities to serve with compassion that come with that. Nothing else would have made her half as happy.”
The La Mesa Police Officers’ Association’s donation campaign continues, with a goal of raising $75,000 to help support Craven’s family. In addition to her father, she is survived by her mother and younger sister. As of Tuesday morning the effort had raised $55,626.
Craven joined the La Mesa Police Department in February 2024.
City News Service contributed to this report.
Updated 3:05 p.m. Oct. 28, 2025
