Procession to transport body of jail officer from Phoenix hospital

PHOENIX – The body of Maricopa County Sheriff’s Officer Gene Lee will be transported in a procession from a Phoenix hospital to the medical examiner’s office Saturday morning.

Lee died Wednesday night at the Banner University Medical Center, a day after he was attacked by an inmate at the Lower Buckeye Jail, where he worked as a detention officer.

The procession will begin at 9 a.m. at the rear of the hospital at 1111 E. McDowell Road, according to an MCSO press release.

It will start out by heading westbound on Willetta Street to 10th Street and then north to McDowell. It will then head east on McDowell before heading southbound on Third Street toward downtown.

The procession will then head west on Jackson Street, north on Fifth Avenue and west on Madison Street to Eighth Avenue.

The Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office is located in the complex at 701 W. Jefferson St.

Lee was a six-year veteran of MCSO and volunteered for the agency’s posse before becoming a full-time employee. He left a career as an engineer to work in law enforcement.

Authorities said he was attacked Tuesday by Daniel Davitt, who was being held while awaiting trial on child molestation charges.

Davitt allegedly grabbed Lee by the throat, pushed him backward and tripped him.

The officer was knocked out when his head slammed into the concrete floor and he never regained consciousness.

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