Behind the Badge
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is reeling from the loss of its first deputy to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.
Deputy Terrell Young, a 15-year veteran of the agency, died this morning, Thursday, April 2, due to complications from COVID-19, the Riverside Sheriff’s Association said in a statement.
The agency did not disclose how or when Young contracted the coronavirus, now a global pandemic.
“(Young’s death) is a painful loss for our association and the law enforcement community,” RSA President Bill Young said in a statement. “We extend our prayers and deepest condolences to Deputy Young’s family, friends, co-workers during these extraordinary times.”
Young is survived by his wife and four children.
Deputy Young’s assignments at the RCSD included the Larry Smith Correctional Facility, Perris Station, Court Services, Southwest Station, and the Cois Byrd Detention Center.
“Our association family, and law enforcement family as a whole, mourns the tragic death of Deputy Young,” Bill Young said in a statement.
“The news of Terrell’s loss strengthens our resolve to work ever more closely with our health professionals to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Bill Young added. “We continue to urge everyone that this virus is real, it is deadly, and we should continue to maintain social-distancing as much as possible.
“Together, we will overcome these challenges and difficult days. Please stay safe and take care of one another during these unprecedented and extremely difficult times.”
Prior to becoming a deputy in 2005, Terrell Young worked as an enrollment counselor at California Baptist University in Riverside, a job he started in 2003, according to his LinkedIn page.
Prior to that, Deputy Young worked as an enrollment counselor at National University in Orange County.
His jobs before that included admissions counselor at the University of Phoenix in Orange County and as an investment advisor at Paine Webber Investments in Orange County, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Deputy Young is among more than 200 law enforcement personnel who have been diagnosed or quarantined due to the coronavirus in the state, according to the Los Angeles Times.
