[Please see story: https://mikelilley.com/2025/02/05/pastors-wife-lucy-pat-curl-dies-from-injuries-sustained-during-brutal-home-invasion/ ]
Ronald Davis, a 55-year-old former convict, was sentenced to life in prison in April 2025 after pleading guilty to the first-degree murder of Lucy Pat Curl, an 85-year-old woman and wife of Orlando pastor Bill Curl. Davis committed the crime on January 31, 2025, by posing as a community services officer to force his way into Curl’s home and brutally attacking her; she died from her injuries on February 5 after being taken off life support.
While serving his life sentence, Davis faces additional charges for a separate November 2024 home invasion in which he allegedly attacked an 80-year-old wheelchair-bound man, stole belongings, and threatened the victim’s life. In September 2025, Davis filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea in the Curl murder case, claiming he was coerced due to the threat of the death penalty at trial, though he remains incarcerated.
Ronald Davis, already serving a life sentence for murdering an elderly Orlando woman has now been charged in connection with a separate attack on an 80-year-old man.
Davis faces charges of home invasion robbery, aggravated assault, and battery — all involving a victim 65 or older — stemming from a November 2024 incident. According to court documents, Davis forced his way into the man’s home on Arrow Lane, claimed to be a police officer, threatened to kill him, armed himself with a screwdriver, knocked the wheelchair-bound victim to the floor, kicked him in the head, and stole electronics before fleeing on a bicycle.
The new case echoes the crimes that earned Davis his life sentence in April 2025: the murder of 85-year-old Lucy Pat Curl, whom he attacked after knocking on her door and falsely identifying himself as a community services officer. Curl later died from her injuries.
Davis was also previously linked to a November 2024 burglary in which a woman returned home to find jewelry stolen, with security footage allegedly showing Davis at her door beforehand.
He is due back in court June 12 for a hearing on the latest charges.
From the International Mission Board:
In Memoriam: Missionary Emeritus Lucy Pat Curl, 1939-2025
Lucy Pat Curl, an International Mission Board missionary emeritus who shared the gospel in the United Kingdom, died Feb. 5, 2025, in Orlando, Florida. She was 85.
Lucy Pat was born Aug. 24, 1939, in Louisville, Kentucky, to the late Dr. George W. Redding and Carolyn Rogers Redding. She received the Bachelor of Arts from Georgetown (Kentucky) College.
She came to faith in Christ during a revival meeting at Georgetown Baptist Church when she was 7 years old. Her father, head of the Bible department at nearby Georgetown College, baptized her. As a college student majoring in piano, she made a public decision to follow Christ vocationally. Following graduation from college in 1960, she married Bill Curl. By the time they had been married six years, Bill had completed seminary and become a pastor, and they had four children.
While seeking missionary appointment she recalled that at the Southern Baptist Convention in Las Vegas in June of 1989, after praying about it several times, Bill felt led to stop at the Foreign Mission Board booth and fill out a form to let the board know of their availability. She wrote, “We have always felt close to foreign mission work, have visited several mission fields for short terms of service and have sought to have open hearts should the Lord call us. To this point we have always felt His clear leading to serve where we have been located. … We have both felt strongly compelled recently to open the lines of communication with the Foreign Mission Board in the event that God has a specific place for us abroad.”
In 1990, the International Mission Board appointed Bill and Lucy Pat missionaries to the United Kingdom. Committed to being a team in ministry, in everything they did they loved people well, said their family. As a gifted musician, she made music, served in church and home ministries, taught, encouraged and cared for others.
Lucy Pat was preceded in death by a granddaughter, Kalynn Curl.
She is survived by her husband of 64 years, Bill Curl; and her children Beth Menendez (Pete), Philip Curl (Miriam), Carol Rickman (Mark) and Scott Curl (Crystal); 11 grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
A celebration of life service was held Feb. 16 at First Baptist Church of Orlando, Florida.
