85-year-old pastor’s wife dies from beating during Florida home invasion, family says

The beloved wife of a long-time Florida pastor has died from injuries suffered during a “brutally” violent home invasion, according to a family statement shared on social media.

Lucy Pat Curl, the wife of Orlando-based Baptist Pastor Bill Curl, “was taken off life support” and died not long after on Feb. 5, the Curl family said.

She had been in critical condition since Jan. 31, after being discovered “severely battered” in the couple’s Orlando home, the Orlando Police Department said in a news release.

A suspect in the home invasion was captured the same day, sleeping in a shed “a few miles” away from the home, police said.

Orlando police have not specifically identified the Curl family as the victims, but First Orlando Baptist Church Senior Pastor Dr. David Uth gave details in a video posted Feb. 2 on YouTube.

Uth noted Bill Curl has served in several leadership roles at the 14,000-member church during the past 52 years and was most recently a pastoral care minister.

“On Friday afternoon, Bill was doing some counseling with someone at the Pregnancy Center, and Lucy Pat was home. ... Somebody knocked at her door ... and he said he was a community service officer,” Uth said.

“He knocked her down, came into the house, hit her several times. She’s 85 years old. ... She hits a coffee table ... and just destroys the right side of her head. He starts ransacking the house and she’s screaming out and she got outside to the van and honked the horn, trying to get somebody’s attention.”

Bill Curl arrived “over an hour later” , called 911 and told police a man “forcibly entered their home and brutally attacked his elderly wife.”

Lucy Curl was on life support and in a coma after the attack, Baptistpress.com reports.

“On Tuesday, Lucy Pat was taken off life support. She went on to Heaven early this morning,” the family’s Feb. 5 statement said. “We rejoice that she is no longer in pain.”

Orlando police released a case update, acknowledging the victim died at 5:15 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 5, at Orlando Regional Medical Center.

As a result, the suspect Ronald D. Davis, 55, is facing an additional charge of first degree murder in the commission of a home invasion, police said. He is also charged with home invasion robbery with a weapon, aggravated battery on a person over 65 with great bodily harm and aggravated battery with a weapon

This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 10:31 AM with the headline "85-year-old pastor’s wife dies from beating during Florida home invasion, family says."