Polk County

Woman charged with 2nd-degree murder after Polk County deputy shot, killed

POLK COUNTY, Fla. — A woman is facing a charge of second-degree murder after a Polk County deputy was shot and killed by another deputy while they were trying to serve her a warrant.

Polk County deputies said Cheryl Williams, 46, is facing 13 felony charges.

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Sheriff Grady Judd said deputies, including Blane Lane, 21, responded to a mobile home in unincorporated Polk City to serve Williams a warrant on Oct. 4.

Judd said Williams pointed a BB gun at deputies and the deputies fired at her.

Read: ‘Exceptionally tragic’: Sheriff: Polk County deputy, 21, fatally shot while serving warrant

The sheriff said one of the bullets fired by the deputies hit Lane in the shoulder and his chest, leading to Lane’s death.

“She made the choice to hide, and then to jump out while pointing a gun at them,” Judd said in a statement. “Everyone in that house is a convicted felon with a criminal history, but all they had to do was cooperate, and this tragedy would never have occurred.”

Read: 160 arrested in 7-day human trafficking investigation, Polk County sheriff says

Williams is charged with three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, three counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, three counts of resisting arrest, two counts of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and one count of possession of methamphetamine.

The two other people inside the home at the time, Donald Mathis, 72, and Joseph Larry Albritton, Jr., 55, were also arrested on weapons charges.

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Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson, WFTV.com

Sarah Wilson joined WFTV Channel 9 in 2018 as a digital producer after working as an award-winning newspaper reporter for nearly a decade in various communities across Central Florida.