Master Sergeant Debra Clayton

January 9, 2017

Master Sergeant Debra Clayton was shot and killed when she encountered a wanted murder suspect in the parking lot of a Walmart at the intersection of Princeton Street and John Young Parkway.

The subject was wanted for murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend and for shooting her new boyfriend three months prior. After shooting Sergeant Clayton, the man carjacked a vehicle and fled the scene. A captain from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office spotted the vehicle moments later and was shot at as he got behind it. The suspect continued to flee and remains at large.

During the ensuing search Deputy First Class Norman Lewis, of the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, was killed in a motorcycle crash at the intersection of Pine Hills Road and Balboa Drive when another vehicle turned in front of his motorcycle.

Sergeant Clayton had served with the Orlando Police Department for 17 years. She is survived by her husband and two children.