LAKELAND -- Polk County Deputy Vernon Matthew (Matt) Williams, died in the line of duty on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2006. He was 39.
He is survived by his wife, Nancy, their three children -- a 19-year-old son and 16-year-old twins, a boy and a girl.
Williams became a deputy in 1994.
"I knew him well. He was a nice person and an excellent deputy," former Sheriff Lawrence W. Crow said. "He was always one of the first K-9 deputies on the scene, one of the first to pursue a suspect."
Williams' German shepherd K-9, Diogi, was also killed Thursday.
Published in Ledger from September 28 to September 30, 2006
