PEMBROKE PINES (CBS4) —The mother of a veteran Miami-Dade Police officer who was killed in the line of duty Thursday while executing an arrest warrant for a career criminal says her daughter was devoted to serving the public.

Susanne Miller, the mother of 44-year-old Amanda Haworth, told CBS4′s Peter D'Oench, "She was a good person. She wanted to serve. She wanted to help people. Our hearts are all torn up because of what happened. But she loved doing what she did to protect people. We are proud of her for doing that."

Miller said he daughter's career was her dream come true.

"My daughter had a tremendous amount of spirit and she dreamed of becoming an officer," Miller told D'Oench.

Speaking for the first time and exclusively with CBS4, Miller said her daughter "was an inspiration to so many of us. And she was a great mother to her 13-year-old son."

"What sort of loss is this? It's the worst ever. You can't imagine. But the only saving grace somewhat is that she was doing something she loved," Miller said.

"We felt that she was a hero, every day, not just now, just like everyone of the police officers who put their lives on the line every day," she said. " Sometimes you are lead to where you want to be and she wanted to serve her community and serve people and protect."

"She is an inspiration to us, for sure, she always was, always has been to us and the community and the country," Miller said.

Haworth's legacy will live on, her mother said because Haworth was an organ donor. Miller also said she was touched by the support from so many.

"We just can't say enough about the support, in particular the police family," Miller said. "They brought us in as she was part of the family, and they have made us a part of the family. It's been wonderful. It's really a brotherhood and the officers deserve so much support for what they do."

Miller also expressed concern about the access that people have to guns.

"I think its easier access to guns," said Miller. "I think it's terrible, what happened here and recently in Arizona. It's too easy for people to get guns in their hands."

Fighting back tears, Amanda's two sisters both said she was their hero.

"I always joked that I taught her everything," said Haworth's sister, Holly Strine. "But she really taught us everything. She taught us how to serve the community. She was a wonderful officer and she was a wonderful mother to her son. We miss her terribly."

Strine choked back tears as she spoke of Haworth.

"It's going to be very hard, missing her, trying to call her, to say how are you doing? Are you OK today? Are you good, are you going to make it through another day? When are going to retire? Make it soon."

Her family said Haworth was going to retire in less than three years.

Haworth's younger sister Jenni Ressler, said she looked up to her.

"She's my hero. She was a tremendous sister," Ressler said. "We loved each other very much and we were very close. She was great at what she did. And that was truly an inspiration to us."

Ressler said Haworth was doing what she did best.

"She loved her job and she was excellent at what she did," said Ressler. "She's going to be missed tremendously and it's just very hard on us right now to get through this day by day."

Haworth's father Bob said, "Amanda was charismatic, and we loved her so much. It devastates all of us that such a senseless crime could have happened, that anyone could lose their life in such a way … this was just a senseless, senseless crime. She was doing her job and doing it well."

Haworth's father said she even protected him from worrying about her too much.

" I said previously that she shielded me from a lot of the dangers that she and other officers are in and what it is really like in the line of fire every day."

D'Oench asked Bob Haworth about the applause that he and others received when they spoke at Miami-Dade Police headquarters on Friday.
"That applause was really for Amanda and Officer Castillo," Haworth said.

Haworth will deliver a eulogy for his daughter during memorial service Monday at the American Airlines Arena. "It will be a co-production," he said, "We will all write it."

Haworth's family, and especially Bob Haworth, have a request.

"I asked for prayers for my daughter and Officer Castillo and their families, their children, please, keep them in your prayers," he said. "My daughter was an inspiration and she was our hero. And I am so deeply moved by the support from the public and all of the great Miami-Dade Police officers."

Haworth said he was deeply moved by the support offered by Miami-Dade Police Director James Loftus. Loftus told him he would do everything in his power to help ease the families' pain, calling that a "blood promise."

"That was very special to all of us," Haworth said. "Our daughter was very special to all of us."

Hear Peter's entire interview with Susanne Miller, Holly Strine, Jenni Ressler and Bob Haworth here.