In an emotional session in the Ninth Judicial Circuit Court of Florida on Tuesday, First Baptist Orlando’s longtime Pastoral Care Minister, Bill Curl, forgave the man who fatally battered his wife during a home invasion earlier this year. The man pleaded guilty to the crime and was sentenced to life in prison.
Ronald Davis, the 55-year-old man who admitted to killing Lucy Pat Curl, the 85-year-old wife of Bill Curl, in January, changed his not guilty plea to guilty as part of the plea deal, telling Judge Leticia Marques that it was the right thing to do.
“The defendant has taken from us our [m]atriarch. My wife, 64 years. Happily all the time. She’s been the one, the glue that kinda holds our family together,” Bill Curl said in a statement to the court about the impact of his wife’s murder on his family, according to NBC News affiliate WESH 2.
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Still, he sent Davis to prison with a gift of forgiveness and hope in Jesus.
“I would say for him, we have nothing but forgiveness, for love, for a hope that his life has a better quality, and one day he’ll come to know Jesus,” the First Baptist Orlando pastor told the court.
When asked about his decision to forgive Davis, Pastor Curl was resolute in his choice in an interview with WESH 2.
“He obviously knows what he did. He obviously should be punished for what he did but that doesn’t negate forgiveness,” he said.
Lucy Pat Curl was hospitalized after, Davis, 55, brutally attacked her during a home invasion on Jan. 31.
The Orlando Police Department said officers responded to a report about a home invasion in Catalin at approximately 1:46 p.m. last Friday.
“The victim’s husband arrived home to find his wife severely battered inside their vehicle in the garage, pressing the horn for help. He immediately called 911,” the report said.
Pastor Curl told police that a black male, later identified as suspect Ronald D. Davis, 55, forcibly entered the couple’s home and attacked Lucy Pat Curl and then fled the scene. Davis was later found sleeping inside a shed on a residential property a few miles from the pastor’s house.
Police said Davis had been 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. He was initially 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. When Lucy Pat Curl succumbed to her injuries at approximately 5:15 a.m. at the Orlando Regional Medical Center on Feb. 5, Davis was additionally charged with first-degree murder in the commission of a home invasion.
In recounting the attack on Lucy Pat Curl to his congregation, 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 Davis, who said he was a community service officer. When she asked for his identification to verify his claim, Davis 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,” he said at the time.
Reacting to Pastor Curl’s decision to forgive him for his wife’s murder, Judge Marques said it was something she rarely saw in her courtroom.
“Mr. Davis, I rarely see grace in this courtroom but I saw it today from Rev. Curl,” she told Davis. “You can thank him for this.”
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