Investigators said Cheryl Williams pointed a gun at deputies, prompting them to fire at her. One of those shots killed their fellow deputy, 21-year-old Blane Lane.
A jury has reached a verdict in the second-degree murder trial of Cheryl Williams, the woman charged in the 2022 death of a Polk County deputy.
The jury found Cheryl Williams, 49, guilty of second-degree murder in the shooting death of 21-year-old Deputy Blane Lane.
She was found guilty of resisting an officer without violence, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of methamphetamine.
Sheriff Grady Judd on Cheryl Williams being found guilty
“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. 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.
We will never forget Deputy Blane Lane, and his family remains in our prayers,” Polk County Sheriff Judd said.
The incident happened when deputies were serving an arrest warrant at a mobile home park in Polk County after receiving a tip that Williams was there.
Three of the four deputies went inside the home while Lane decided to take up a tactical position outside, where he could see inside but wasn’t in view of the front door or windows.
Sheriff Grady Judd said while Lane was outside, the other deputies approached a “gaming” room and initially didn’t see anyone inside. But that was when Williams stepped into view with a gun in her hand, pointed at them, according to the sheriff.
Two deputies immediately fired their guns at Williams, striking her at least two times before she went down. While this was happening, Lane was hit outside by one of the bullets fired by deputies inside the home toward Williams.
Lane was rushed to the hospital but died from his injuries, the sheriff’s office said.
The courtroom was heavy with emotion as the sound of a single audio clip echoed through the room.
“Shots fired, shots fired!” the clip said.
Deputy Blane Lane’s mother: ‘I’m sitting in the courtroom with a monster’
Deputy Lane’s mother, Shellie Lane, was seen walking out of the courtroom in tears. She expressed her heartbreak and anger.
“You hear him say he was shot and the outcome of him being shot because of some lowlife,” she said, struggling to contain her emotions.
Lane’s mother described her son as a man committed to his duty and purpose.
“He was doing what he was supposed to be and what he was called to do, and he’s no longer able to do that because of her actions,” she said. “I’m sitting in the courtroom with a monster that initially took my kid. She still gets to breathe, and he doesn’t.”
The courtroom heard from neighbors, a medical photographer, witnesses and several deputies who recounted the harrowing events of that day — including testimony from Williams herself.
“When deputies arrived at this residence following up on a Crime Stoppers tip that Cheryl Williams was there with an active warrant, they gave her every opportunity to turn herself in,” Sheriff Judd said in 2022. “She made the choice to hide, and then to jump out while pointing a gun at them. 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.”