Jonathan Frey, the fiance of deputy
Shannon Bennett, believed to be the first line-of-duty victim in
Florida of the coronavirus pandemic, says Bennett was “a beautiful
soul.”
Bennett was a 12-year veteran of the
Broward Sheriff's Office and a school resource officer at Deerfield
Beach Elementary School.
Bennett died of complications from
COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, 10 days after
testing positive for the virus.
“He was my soulmate,” Frey told ABC
affiliate Local 10 News. “All he really had at first was just a
fever. He had a slight headache, that was about, I want to say, a
couple of days before the hospital.”
Frey said that he last saw Bennett when
he was admitted to the hospital on the advice of a doctor after he
had developed some breathing problems. Frey said that Bennett did not
have any underlying health problems.
(Related: Florida
gay deputy sheriff Shannon Bennett dies from COVID-19.)
“Until something like this affects
you directly, I don't really think you think about how much of an
impact it's going to have,” Frey said.
“This is not the end of who he is. I
care very much about him. He was the love of my life and I know his
legacy is going to live on, one way or another. But he was a
beautiful soul,” Frey said.
Bennett proposed to Frey a few months
ago at Disneyland. The couple was to marry on December 11.