Lucy Pat Curl, the 85-year-old wife of First Baptist Church Orlando’s longtime pastoral care minister Bill Curl, who was hospitalized after she was brutally beaten during a home invasion last Friday, has died.
A statement from the Orlando Police Department said the beloved pastor’s wife succumbed to her injuries at approximately 5:15 a.m. Wednesday at the Orlando Regional Medical Center.
Ronald D. Davis, the 55-year-old ex-convict suspected of attacking Lucy Pat Curl while her husband was at work, is now facing an additional charge of first-degree murder in the commission of a home invasion, police said.
Davis, who was only released from prison in June 2024 after serving a 15-year concurrent sentence for burglary of a dwelling with assault and battery, as well as robbery, was previously facing charges of home invasion robbery with a weapon, aggravated battery on a person over 65, with great bodily harm, and aggravated battery with a weapon.
A statement from Lucy Pat Curl’s family published on Facebook also confirmed her passing.
“On Tuesday, Lucy Pat was taken off life support. She went on to Heaven early this morning. We rejoice that she is no longer in pain,” the family said. “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 family also urged well-wishers to choose to forgive Davis as her husband has pledged to do.
“At one point, Bill (her husband) took her picture before the results of the attack had been cleaned up. 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.’ So we would ask for you to do the same,” the family said.
In recounting the attack on Lucy Pat Curl to his congregation on Sunday, First Baptist Orlando’s Senior Pastor David Uth said Pastor Curl was counseling at their Center for Pregnancy when his wife was attacked at their home.
He said Lucy Pat told police that she heard a knock at her door, and when she went to the door, she saw the suspect, who said he was a community service officer. When she asked for his identification to verify his claim, Davis allegedly pretended he was looking for an ID in his wallet before forcing his way into the home and attacking her.
“He knocked her down, came into the house [and] hit her several times. She's 85 years old but in great health. She survived cancer three times,” Uth said.
During the attack, Uth said Lucy Pat hit the right side of her head on a coffee table, which caused significant damage to her brain.
“They (doctors) did some studies and saw there was a brain bleed, but they were hopeful that maybe it could be operated on to relieve the pressure and to deal with it. But then, when they ran the second scan, it was beyond help, and the neurosurgeon said there's really nothing we can do. And so, everything that they've heard is that she's not going to make it,” Uth told his congregants.
The Curl family has asked the public for privacy and said her memorial service will be held at First Baptist Church of Orlando on Feb. 16.
