BEAUMONT, Texas — Hearts are broken across Southeast Texas as loved ones remember a beloved Beaumont correctional officer who died from complications from COVID-19
Tracey Adams, 45, who was a “correctional officer III cadet” at the Stiles Unit in Beaumont, had been a Texas Department of Criminal Justice employee for less than two months.
Adams was weeks away from graduating from the academy and starting her career before she was diagnosed with coronavirus.
She tested positive for COVID-19 after showing symptoms on February 11, 2021 and was hospitalized the next day, according to the TDCJ.
Adams died Saturday, March 6, and one long-time friend says she’s already missed.
Family and friends are still trying to wrap their heads around the death of Adams and want the community to know that she was much more than an officer.
"I just look at it like it's not really true," said Franshanette Marshall.
Marshall has found herself in an all too familiar position during this pandemic, grieving the loss of a loved one.
RELATED: Stiles Unit guard is 43rd TDCJ employee to die in connection with COVID-19
"She's going to be missed. She's already missed. We feel the absence right now because she passed away two days before my sister's birthday. It was very hard," Marshall said.
Marshall is referring to Tracey Adams, her friend of 25 years who recently died after battling COVID-19. Her family suspects she caught the virus during her training to become a correctional officer at Stiles Unit. It’s an outcome that hunts her dear friend Marshall.
"I was like her number one hype person,” Marshall said. “I would call and check on her everyday, make sure she's not giving up, encouraging her to graduation day. It's just very hurtful now. I feel like I wish I would have talked her out of going.”
The agency says Adams is the 43rd Texas Department of Criminal Justice employee to die from COVID-19.
"Officer Adams was very determined and driven to succeed. Our hope is that her family finds comfort in this difficult time knowing she chose to serve," David Yebra director of training and leader development said in a statement.
Although this lost has shaken the community, Marshall is taking comfort in a conversation she had with Adams that would foreshadow what was to come.
"She looked at me and said, ‘You're not supposed to cry when somebody passes away. You rejoice. When I go, you rejoice on me. I don't want y'all doing all that crying.’ I try to keep that in my head."
Funeral arrangements for Adams are still being made as of Wednesday night.
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