{"id":905978,"date":"2026-09-26T08:22:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T08:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/905978\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T08:22:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T08:22:16","slug":"mia-lay-partner-of-police-officer-killed-in-sydney-crash-speaks-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/905978\/","title":{"rendered":"Mia Lay: Partner of police officer killed in Sydney crash speaks out"},"content":{"rendered":"

September 26, 2026 \u2014 5:34pm<\/p>\n

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The partner of Constable Mia Lay has spoken on behalf of her grief-stricken family a day after she was killed in a car crash while on duty<\/a>, describing the 20-year-old as \u201cthe happiest girl I had met\u201d.<\/p>\n

Fellow officer Daniel Vasquez visited the Redfern site on Saturday where Lay was killed when the marked police car in which she was a passenger crashed about 1.30am on Friday. She died instantly.<\/p>\n

\"ConstableConstable Mia Lay and her partner, Daniel Vasquez.9News<\/p>\n

An emotional Vasquez joined fellow officers from Lay\u2019s Redfern station, who gathered to lay flowers in memory of the constable who had joined the force less than 18 months ago.<\/p>\n

Vasquez said he had been asked to speak on behalf of Lay\u2019s mother Tamara and her family. He described Lay as the \u201clove of his life\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cMia loved what she did in the police, she was happy in the police, she was good at her job and she was loved by everyone in the community,\u201d Vasquez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was the happiest girl I\u2019ve met \u2013 when she was with me, when she was at work \u2013 and I\u2019d ask everyone to remember how stunning and beautiful she was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"FlowersFlowers left at the site of the crash in Redfern.Mostafa Rachwani<\/p>\n

The Friday morning crash is now the subject of a critical incident investigation being overseen by the state\u2019s policing watchdog, the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission.<\/p>\n

Her colleague who was driving the car, a 24-year-old male constable, was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a stable condition with facial and leg injuries.<\/p>\n

The pair were carrying out an urgent response to a reported vehicle theft in nearby Glebe.<\/p>\n

Vasquez urged his \u201cbrothers and sisters in the blue\u201d to take Lay\u2019s death as a reminder that \u201cgoing urgent isn\u2019t worth your life. Slow down, look after your family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Detectives will explore whether speed was a factor. The car was travelling under lights and sirens, which, under Australian law, allows police officers to exceed the speed limit.<\/p>\n

\"TributesTributes left in memory of Constable Mia Lay.Mostafa Rachwani <\/p>\n

Lay had recently returned to Redfern police station after a three-month secondment in the city\u2019s eastern suburbs, where Vasquez is stationed.<\/p>\n

The car was split into several pieces on impact, while debris, including a wheel, was found up to 100 metres from the accident scene.<\/p>\n

Investigators on Friday carried out skid testing, which is used to assess road surfaces and measure friction, near the crash site.<\/p>\n

Start the day with a summary of the day\u2019s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"AlexandraAlexandra Smith<\/a> is a senior writer and former state political editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.\"MostafaMostafa Rachwani<\/a> is a Parramatta reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald. He was previously the Community Affairs reporter at Guardian Australia.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"September 26, 2026 \u2014 5:34pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":905979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-905978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/905979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}