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Left: Bill and Lucy Pat Curl (First Baptist Orlando). Right: Ronald Davis (Orange County Jail).
A Florida man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murder of an 85-year-old woman during a home invasion robbery in which he posed as a community service officer.
Ronald Dwayne Davis, 55, pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder in the January death of 85-year-old Lucy Pat Curl in Orlando, court records say. Circuit Judge Leticia J. Marques sentenced Davis to life in prison.
During the sentencing hearing, the victim’s husband for 64 years, Bill Curl, a longtime pastor at First Baptist Orlando, forgave Davis, according to a courtroom report from local NBC affiliate WESH.
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“For him, we have nothing but forgiveness, love and hope that the rest of his life has better quality,” the pastor said of Davis.
Marques noted she often doesn’t see the willingness to forgive in the way Bill Curl did.
“I rarely see grace in this courtroom but I saw it today from Rev. Curl and you can thank him for this,” Marques said.
Davis offered his thanks.
“He obviously knows what he did,” Pastor Curl told WESH after the hearing. “He obviously should be punished for what he did, but that doesn’t negate forgiveness.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, Pastor Curl has taken a conciliatory tone from the beginning when he and his family wrote a letter to fellow church members to announce the death.
“The circumstances of her passing are shocking and abrupt, and not what we would have expected or chosen. But as our Lord has forgiven us, we are asked to forgive each other,” the letter obtained by Spectrum News 13 said.
With that in mind, Bill Curl took a photo of his wife after she died.
“When asked what he would do with a picture like that, his response was, ‘I’m going to show it to the man who did this to her. Then I’m going to forgive him. I refuse to let his actions dictate who I am,”” family wrote.
Davis was arrested on charges of home invasion robbery with a weapon, aggravated battery on a person 65 or older with great bodily harm and aggravated battery with a weapon. Murder charges were added after the victim died from her injuries sustained in the attack.
Bill Curl called police around 1:30 p.m. Jan. 31 to report a break-in at his home in the 2300 block of Caribbean Court after he found his wife suffering from serious head wounds.
Before doctors induced her into a coma, Lucy Curl relayed her version of events to detectives. She said she was preparing to leave for a hair appointment when she heard a knock on the door between 10:30 and 11 a.m. She thought someone might be in trouble, so she answered the door, a probable cause affidavit said.
The man, later identified as Davis, claimed to be a community service officer and needed to check her residence, the affidavit said. She asked him for some identification and he pulled out his wallet that contained his ID. He then allegedly forced his way inside her home and started attacking her, dropping the wallet in the process. She tried to fight back, but was rendered unconscious. Police would later find a crystal candy jar with her hair on it, suggesting that Davis may have beaten her with it, cops noted.
When she woke up, Lucy Curl was bleeding from her head and her ribs and back were hurting, per the affidavit. She couldn’t find her phone, so she crawled to her garage where she honked the horn on her car for some 15 minutes in hopes someone would come help. After no one came, she went to lie on the couch, where her husband found her a couple of hours later. Paramedics rushed her to the hospital, where doctors induced her into a coma “with the high likelihood of not surviving,” cops wrote.
A search of the home revealed several jewelry items were missing, according to police, as well as Davis’ dropped wallet, which police brought with them to Davis’ home. He was apparently living in a shed on the home’s property with his girlfriend. Detectives went to the shed, and Davis initially gave his middle name, the affidavit said. Police asked Davis for his ID, but he claimed he had lost it along with his wallet a few weeks prior. His girlfriend also came to the door and detectives noticed she was wearing “several unique pieces of jewelry and rings.” She allegedly later told officers that Davis had just given her the items.
Cops also found more jewelry and coins, along with a bloodied shirt inside the shed, according to the affidavit.
According to police, Davis walked out of a Florida prison in June 2024 after serving 15 years for burglary, false imprisonment and other charges.
