By Gary Taylor
Orlando Sentinel
GENEVA, Fla. — A trainee at the Seminole County Jail suspected of fatally shooting his female companion was shot and seriously injured Sunday by a deputy.
Jeff L. Thomas, 45, was in critical condition at Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was airlifted after the shooting in Geneva, Seminole sheriff’s Capt. Dennis Lemma said.
The dead woman, Melanie Lee, 37, was a sergeant with the state Department of Corrections. She worked at the Central Florida Reception Center near Orlando.
Thomas and Lee had moved into a residence in Titusville within the past two weeks, Lemma said.
A deputy stopped Lee about 6 a.m. Sunday on State Road 46 in northeast Seminole for driving 76 mph in a 45-mph zone. She was ticketed for faulty equipment because of a broken windshield, Lemma said.
She explained to the deputy she was en route to pick up Thomas after his shift at the Seminole jail. Lee was wearing her state Department of Corrections clothing and was thought to be due at her job at 8 a.m., Lemma said. Lee picked up Thomas about 6:30 a.m., an hour after he got off work, Lemma said.
At some point the truck ran off the roadway on S.R. 46 between Ridge and Mullet Lake Park roads. Passers-by reported the two sitting on the tailgate. Then one motorist saw Thomas shoot the woman, Lemma said.
Deputies arrived on the scene and tried to talk with Thomas but were unable to, Lemma said. A supervisor using binoculars could see the woman on the ground and that Thomas was armed. At that point, a decision was made to use lethal force, Lemma said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating. Details, including how many times Thomas was hit and the name of the deputy who shot him, were not released.
Thomas was hired in May as a detention deputy trainee at the county jail in Sanford, Lemma said. He previously worked five years for the state Department of Corrections. No further information was available Sunday.
The investigation closed the area of the shooting on S.R. 46 for much of the day.
Copyright 2009 Sentinel Communications Co.