Janice Folds

Janice Folds, a church secretary who had been married to the Rev. Wyatt Folds for 53 years, had just woken up this morning and walked into her guest bedroom when a 2011 Chevy Silverado pickup truck crashed through the front of their brick house and killed her, Sheriff Grady Judd said. 

The 24-year-old driver, identified as Ryan Tallant of Plant City, failed a field sobriety test “miserably” and will be charged with DUI manslaughter, Judd said at a news conference outside the Folds’ house on Orange Valley Drive in a quiet neighborhood near Fitzgerald Road and Scott Lake Road.

“He murdered that woman. I’m angry,” Judd said.

Judd said that Wyatt Folds told him that nothing could prepare him for this morning’s tragedy despite dealing with many crises in his years as a minister, most recently at Redeemer Church of Lakeland.

Watch Sheriff Judd’s news conference:

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Barry Friedman founded Lkldnow.com in 2015 as the culmination of a career in print and digital journalism. Since 1982, he has used the tools of reporting, editing and content curation to help people in Lakeland understand their community better.

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