Polk Deputy Blane Lane remembered 1 year after being killed in line of duty: ‘He’s not going to be forgotten’
LAKELAND, Fla. - The mother of fallen Polk County Deputy Blane Lane is preparing to mark one year since his death in the line of duty.
"It's hard seeing your kid's name at a memorial," said Shellie Lane, the mother of the fallen 21-year-old deputy.
Blane Lane, 21, was shot and killed in Polk City while helping to serve a warrant at 3 a.m. on October 4, 2022. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said after the suspect pulled a gun, deputies fired, hitting the suspect, but also hitting Lane, who was outside watching a potential escape door.
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Deputy Blane Lane passed away one year ago.
"I ask all the time, ‘why did he have to go on that call?’ But I know that Blane was doing what he loved, and he wanted to be where the action was," shared Shellie.
The last year has meant watching Blane's three children, one of whom he never met, continue to grow up under the care of Blane's fiancée.
There's a memorial for fallen Polk County law enforcement in Lakeland.
"The hardest part has been watching my four-year-old granddaughter want him back so bad. All she has is pictures," Shellie said. "Watching her kiss a picture. Or dance with a picture. And knowing she never gets that true feeing again."
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Shellie keeps her son close in a few ways – one of them is a tattoo she now has on her arm, that includes his signature and a blue ribbon with his badge number.
Lane's mother got a tattoo to honor him.
She now visits a memorial in Lakeland dedicated to all Polk County law enforcement officers who have died in the line of duty. She also visits his grave site.
"It's the only place I feel extremely close to him," Shellie said of the cemetery. "I talk to him out there."
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She speaks out to guard against one thing time has a way of doing.
Shellie Lane never wants people to forget about her son.
"My biggest fear is that Blane will be forgotten," shared Shellie.
But since the deputy's death, there have been bike rides, one-mile runs, luncheons and memorials held in Blane's honor – ensuring his memory is far from forgotten.
"That's probably the best feeling out of all of this, because he's not being forgotten," she explained. "And it's taken me a year to realize that he's not going to be forgotten."
The suspect who is alleged to have pulled a gun on arriving deputies, Cheryl Williams, was charged with second-degree murder.