Lakeland Mother Shot, Son Dead After Family Dispute

LAKELAND, FL — A 75-year-old Lakeland mother is injured and her 53-year-old son dead following a Thursday night dispute that took a violent turn.

According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called out to the Del Rose Drive North home of Marjorie Pacuicrk around 6:02 p.m. Nov. 10. Marjorie reportedly wanted assistance in getting her adult son, John Pacuicrk, to leave.

Dispatchers asked Marjorie to wait outside the home for deputies, Sheriff Grady Judd said in a Thursday press conference. When deputies arrived, they met with Marjorie in the front yard and learned she had asked John for help in pushing her car to the backyard.

John, Judd said, became angry, but agreed to help. When the car wouldn’t budge, he became more upset and went inside the home. Marjorie followed him in and found that he had gone into his room and locked the door.

“She told him through the locked door she wanted him to leave,” Judd said.

Marjorie then decided to contact deputies for help. John, Marjorie told deputies, had a gun in his room.

The deputies that responded to the home attempted to go inside and talk to John at that point, Judd said. While they were inside, however, they heard gunshots coming from the front yard. When they ran back outside, they saw two men “fighting, rolling on the ground,” Judd said.

One of the men was John; the other his brother Theodore, 51. John had a gun in his hand, Judd said, and deputies told him to drop it.

“Theodore, who was not armed, jumped up,” Judd said. “John then jumped up and pointed the gun at Deputy Lee Smith.”

Smith, 23, and Deputy Bernardo Del Valle, 28, both shot at John, Judd said.

The two performed lifesaving measures on John, but he was pronounced dead at the scene, Judd said.

Marjorie was located hiding in a car in her front yard. She had been shot twice – once in each leg, Judd said.

The preliminary investigation revealed that Theodore encountered John outside the home while the deputies were evidently inside and noticed he had two guns in his hands, Judd said. John reportedly told Theodore, “I’m going to kill her,” while shooting at Marjorie several times.

Deputies recovered two guns from the scene.

Smith and Del Valle were both hired in January 2015. Four independent investigations are being conducted related to the shooting death.

Marjorie Pacuicrk was last listed in stable condition, the sheriff’s office said.

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