Slain officer's wife gives birth to their son

They say a baby is a new beginning.

Four months after losing her husband, Officer John Pawlowski, to a thug's bullet, Kimmy Pawlowski began anew Thursday, when she gave birth to the fallen officer's son.

John Jr. was born at about 11 p.m. at Abington Memorial Hospital, said Jimmy Binns, a family friend.

He weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces.

"Both mother and child are doing very well. Everything went smoothly, and everyone is very happy," Binns said. "He's a beautiful baby. It's just great news."

The family thanked well-wishers and requested privacy in a Police Department-issued statement yesterday.

Pawlowski was 25 and a newlywed when police say career criminal Rasheed Scruggs gunned him down Feb. 13 as the five-year veteran and his partner responded to a cabbie's call for help.

Scruggs allegedly had threatened to rob and shoot the taxi driver, prompting his call to police.

Scruggs is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday in the slaying.

At his funeral, Pawlowski's relatives recalled his excitement upon learning he would become a father.

He gushed about whether his unborn son would look more like him or Kimmy and went shopping for baby clothes, his sister Lauren Pawlowski said.

He was buried with a sonogram of his unborn son in his hand.

Pawlowski was the fifth city officer killed in the line of duty in less than a year. *