A woman from Florida has been sentenced to life imprisonment for her actions that led to the death of a deputy, despite not being the one to fire the fatal shot.

Cheryl Lynn Williams, 49, was recently convicted by a jury in Polk County, facing multiple charges including second-degree murder, resisting an officer with violence while armed, three counts of aggravated assault on an officer, possession of methamphetamine, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

In October 2022, she was arrested on 13 felony counts after Deputy Blane Lane, 21, from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, tragically died due to friendly fire as part of a four-member team executing an arrest warrant at Williams’ home in Polk City, a small town about 40 miles southwest of Orlando.

Judge Michelle Pincket of the 10th Judicial Circuit handed Williams a life sentence without parole for the murder charge, according to Sunshine State court records.

Although largely a formal procedure, Williams faced four additional life sentences for resisting an officer and aggravated assault, set to run concurrently with her primary sentence. She also received 1,080 days of credit for pretrial detention time served.

At the time of the raid that took Lane’s life, Williams was wanted for failure to appear in court on a drug possession charge.

On October 4, 2022, around 3 a.m., Lane, along with Sergeant Michael Brooks and Deputies Johnny Holsonback III and Adam Pennell, arrived at the location, quickly ascertaining Williams’ whereabouts in the residence’s rear, based on information from a witness present at the scene.

At the scene, a second witness then said, “She’s in here,” which caused Lane to assume a “tactical” position near the rear of the building as the other three deputies went inside.

“Lane’s tactical position afforded him the view of the door and windows to ensure that he would see the suspect in the event she tried to flee,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release.

Williams then appeared near a “gaming room” while brandishing a “silver handgun,” later determined to be a “very realistic-looking BB gun,” the sheriff’s office said. A hail of gunfire ensued. Williams was struck at least twice – but so was Lane, once.

The lone bullet entered his arm and made its way into his chest. The deputy, who had been sworn in to serve just a few months prior, succumbed to his injuries at Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center.

“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 in comments provided to St. Petersburg-based CBS affiliate WTSP. “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.”

A sentencing memorandum prepared by prosecutors requested – and received – additional sentences of life in prison for Williams because her actions on the day in question also “intentionally placed” each of the three other law enforcement officers “in fear for his life, knowing that he was engaged in the performance of a legal duty.”