Deputies shot woman armed with BB gun but killed 21-year-old cop, FL cops say

A woman is accused of pointing a BB gun at deputies trying to serve a warrant for her arrest, then they fired, killing a fellow deputy, Florida authorities said.

Prosecutors argued the woman, 49-year-old Cheryl Williams, was responsible for his death, although she didn’t fatally shoot the deputy, and a jury convicted her of second-degree murder, WTSP reported Sept. 11.

McClatchy News reached out to her attorney for comment Sept. 11 but did not immediately receive a response.

“This suspect’s outrageous criminal actions were the cause of my deputy being killed in the line of duty, and the jury appropriately found her guilty as charged,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said. “Her family can visit her in prison, but Blane’s family has to visit his grave in a cemetery and can only have a one-sided conversation with him.”

Williams was also charged with resisting an officer with violence, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of methamphetamine and use or possession of drug paraphernalia, records show.

Four deputies with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office were serving a warrant for Williams on a failure to appear on a possession of methamphetamine charge on Oct. 4, 2022, according to a news release.

Among them was 21-year-old Blane Lane, who became a deputy sheriff about 10 months prior to the fatal shooting, according to the sheriff’s office.

One of Williams’ roommates tipped off law enforcement that she was staying at their Polk City mobile home, so the deputies headed there to make the arrest and announced themselves outside the door at about 3 a.m., deputies wrote in an arrest affidavit.

Williams was talking with her other roommate when deputies knocked, then she grabbed a “very realistic-looking BB gun,” deputies said in the news release.

She told the roommate to open the door and let them in, but he told her to put the gun down, he later told investigators.

But he said she didn’t listen and instead hid behind a cabinet, then he opened the door for law enforcement, telling them Williams was inside, deputies said.

All the deputies went inside except for Lane, who “took up a tactical position outside the trailer near the front side” in case Williams tried to run, according to the news release.

That’s when the deputies inside the home said Williams emerged from her hiding place with the BB gun pointed at them.

One deputy retreated while two of them fired their guns, hitting Williams and Lane, authorities said.

Lane radioed that he had been shot, and one deputy went outside to help him with the gunshot wound that entered through his arm and ended up in his chest, according to the sheriff’s office.

Williams was also shot multiple times, deputies said.

Williams’ attorney, Robin Stevenson, told the jury that his client didn’t point the BB gun directly at deputies, WFLA reported.

“She immediately and instinctively raised her hand and turned to get away from the lights,” he said during the trial. “That’s a normal reaction, we’d all do that. What she didn’t think about was the fact that she’s holding a BB gun.”

Ultimately, the jury voted to convict her, the sheriff’s office said.

Lane’s mom, Shellie Lane, said her son was a father of three kids, WFLA reported.

“All three of them should get to know how amazing their dad was,” she said. “I just want everyone to know that Blane was a good kid, and Blane loved his job and he loved getting ready for his job and he wouldn’t change anything because he loved what he did.”

She said the deputies wouldn’t have been there that day in the first place if Williams “just followed the law,” WFLA reported.

Polk City is about a 40-mile drive southwest from Orlando.

This story was originally published September 12, 2025 at 10:52 AM with the headline "Deputies shot woman armed with BB gun but killed 21-year-old cop, FL cops say."