Man Fatally Shot after Attacking Mother, Stabbing Fla. Deputy in Head

By Rebecca Lee

Source The Ledger, Lakeland, Fla.

DAVENPORT, FL—Polk County sheriff's deputies shot and killed a man in Davenport Sunday after the agency said he tried to kill his mother, then stabbed a deputy.

The Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to Oakcrest Court in the Providence subdivision about 2:45 p.m. after getting a call from an elderly woman who said her adult son was trying to smother her.

She said she woke up to 47-year-old Arthur Martin pressing a pillow on her face while she was napping on the couch, the Sheriff's Office said in a release. Officials said the woman was able to escape the house and call 9-1-1 from her car.

Deputies said she later told them she didn't know why her son was smothering her and that they hadn't had any arguments recently.

When deputies arrived at the home, the Sheriff's Office said Martin was in his bedroom on the second floor. Officials said the deputies called for him to come out, but he didn't respond.

According to the release, the deputies went into the bedroom and found that he closed himself in the master bathroom. Deputies said Martin continued to refuse their commands to come out with his hands up, so they attempted to get into the bathroom while Martin tried to keep the door shut from the inside.

Once deputies got into the bathroom, they said Martin charged at them with a large knife. According to a release, Martin hit Deputy Sheriff Aurelio Nicolas in the face and stabbed him on the top of his head.

The release said Nicolas used his taser, but it didn't stop Martin from attacking. All three deputies then shot Martin, who died on the scene.

The Sheriff's Office said Martin has a criminal history from New York including a felony for armed assault with intent to cause serious injury that he was convicted for. He spent four years in prison for the felony charge in 2016 and his parole was set to expire January 2024. A release said when he arrived to Polk County, he registered as a felon and had an active restraining order in New York prohibiting him from having any contact with an adult female and two children.

"Here is one more example of how dangerous this job is," Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a prepared statement. "When deputies respond to family disturbances, they do everything they can to resolve the situation. My deputies did not choose to shoot this violent, convicted felon — he forced them to when he charged them with a knife and began attacking."

The other two deputies involved are Deputy Odalys Hurtado and Deputy Kyle Pitts.

Nicolas got stitches for the wound on his head and his face is bruised from Martin's strike, officials said in a release. Nicolas was hired as a detention deputy in June 2020 and became a deputy in September 2021.

The agency said Hurtado was hired as a deputy in January 2019 and Pitts was hired in October 2017 as a detention deputy and became a deputy in January 2018.

The deputies will be on administrative leave with pay during the initial phase of the investigation, the Sheriff's Office said. According to protocol, the PCSO Homicide Unit will conduct a death investigation, the PCSO Administrative Investigations will conduct an administrative inquiry. The State Attorney's Office will conduct its own investigation, and the 10 Judicial Circuit Medical Examiner's Office will conduct a cause-of-death investigation.

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