Yes, truly horrible. Aside from why a long-time LAFD captain would do such a thing, it's doubly tragic that the victim's young daughter would find out about it from some scumbag reporter. Notice the L.A. Times story cops still had not officially ID'd the victim as of this morning, yet that reporter didn't bother to respect the usual practice of waiting until the official ID and notification of next of kin.
You know, 25 years ago, a reporter would be reprimanded by brass for talking to such a young child and notifying the child of their mother's death in such a way.
Most reporters are creeps and will do anything for a story, I'll give you that.