Thursday 4 August 2022 01:25 AM Adam Child died after gunshot in Ermington police station after 20 years in ... trends now
A top detective found dead at his police station is from a highly regarded policing family who solved some of Sydney's toughest cases in a two decade career with the homicide squad.
Colleagues found Detective Sergeant Adam Child dead from a gunshot wound inside a room at Ermington police station, in Sydney's west, about 12.30pm on Monday.
The 46-year-old father, who worked in the force alongside his wife, has been remembered as 'one of the finest humans and detectives' by relatives of murder victims whose cases he helped solve.
Police do not believe Mr Child's death was suspicious. He was on duty at the time and a police-issued firearm was used in the incident.
Friends and former colleagues have expressed horror at learning of the father-of-two's untimely death and questioned what support services were in place.
Colleagues found detective sergeant Adam Child dead inside a room at Ermington police station in Sydney about 12.30pm on Monday
'I am just heartbroken. [Adam] was one of the finest humans and detectives,' said one woman, who met Mr Child when he was assigned to the case of her loved one.
She added Mr Child would be remembered for his 'compassion and steely determination for justice'.
He was publicly involved in the investigation into murdered mother Jody Galante, and was praised by her relatives for his kindness and dogged search for the truth.
The case was subject to an Australian Story episode in 2008 which featured Mr Child, as he explained the steps he took to solve the murder and put Mrs Galante's husband, Mark, behind bars for 27 years.
'Adam Child and Anthony Agnew were so caring, they knew they were asking us to do hard things,' Mrs Galante's mother Julie-Anne Hand said at the time.
Mr Child had suspicions Mrs Galante's husband was responsible for her death but did not have enough evidence to make an arrest.
He asked her family to continue publicly supporting him while the investigation was ongoing to lull him into a false sense of security.
Mr Child was publicly involved in the investigation into murdered mother Jody Galante (pictured with her husband, who was eventually convicted of her murder), and was praised by her relatives for his kindness and dogged search for the truth
Following Galante's arrest, the 27-year-old pleaded guilty to his wife's murder and was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment, with a non-parole period of 20 years
Almost two months later, he asked them to help clear out Mrs Galante's
