Deputies Killed
Sheriff's Deputies
- Deputy Robin Tanner, 2007
- Deputy Michael Alexander, 1998
- Deputy David J. Cormier, 1989
- Deputy Guy Bradley, 1905
- Deputy Frank Adams, 1901
Deputy Robin Tanner, killed December 13, 2007
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Click here for photos of the memorial service held in Marathon December 20, 2007
Monroe County Sheriff’s Deputy Robin Tanner was killed December 13, 2007 in a single vehicle automobile accident as she was responding, on duty, to a medical call.
Deputy Tanner was assigned to the Marathon area as a patrol officer. She was 47 years old at the time of her death.
She first came to work for the Sheriff’s Office in January of 1987 as a Records Clerk. She attended the Law Enforcement Academy at Florida Keys Community College’s Institute of Criminal Justice in 1988 and shortly thereafter became a patrol officer. She worked in the lower Keys until she resigned in June of 1991. She returned to work for the Sheriff’s Office in June of 2004 and has worked in the middle Keys as a patrol officer since then.
At 7 a.m., Deputy Tanner was responding to a report of a woman not breathing in the vicinity of 119th Street. The single vehicle accident took place near 90th Street. She was rushed to Fisherman’s Hospital where she was declared deceased a short time later.
Deputy Michael Alexander, killed 1998
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Deputy Michael Alexander died in a traffic accident May 3rd, 1998 while on duty working for the Monroe County Sheriff's Office.
He had just left roll call at the Plantation Key Substation and was en route to his duty station at the Ocean Reef Resort. For some reason, he had pulled off of the highway and onto Val Jean Way, in Tavernier. He was stopped at a stop sign at Val Jean Way and Highway U.S. One when he pulled out into the path on an oncoming semi tractor trailer truck, and was broad sided on the driver’s side by the truck.
Deputy Alexander has worked for the Monroe County Sheriff's Office for just less than a year. He worked on the midnight shift as a deputy at the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo. He was also on the Monroe County Sheriff's Office Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team.
Prior to working in the Florida Keys, Deputy Alexander worked for the Miami-Dade Police Department for 16 years. He left that department as a Lieutenant. Deputy Alexander is survived by his wife, Stella, and their two children.
Deputy David J. Cormier, killed 1989
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David J. Cormier, a reserve deputy for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, died November 19, 1989, from injuries he received when the patrol car he was riding in collided with a pick-up truck.
The collision occurred about 10:55 p.m., on U.S. Highway 1 on Plantation Key at Mile Marker 87.5. Deputy Joseph Ferraro and Reserve Deputy Cormier were responding to a back-up call from another deputy. Patrick Walter from Davie, Florida, had just left the parking lot of the Islamorada Inn in his 1973 Chevrolet pick-up truck when, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, he "failed to yield the right of way" to the patrol car, which had blue and red lights flashing. Deputy Ferraro swerved to the left in an attempt to avoid the accident, but collided with the left side of the pick-up truck.Deputy Ferraro sustained head and neck injuries and was transported to Baptist Hospital and has since made a full recovery. Patrick Walter died at the scene of the accident and Reserve Deputy Cormier was stabilized at Mariners Hospital before being airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where he died during surgery at 2:30 a.m. the following morning.
Reserve Deputy Cormier is the third deputy to be killed in the line of duty in Monroe County. David Cormier, 31, an official with TIB Bank of the Keys, participated in civic projects and volunteered to work at community events. He was an active member of the Upper Keys Jaycees. He also volunteered to set up a computer system for the Key Largo Chamber of Commerce.Reserve Deputy David Cormier graduated from the Reserve Deputy Academy in June, 1989, and is survived by his parents, Curtis and Lilian; and his sister, Andrea, who continue to live in David’s native Michigan. (1997).
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Guy M. Bradley, a game warden hired by the Audubon Society and deputized by the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, was shot and killed July 8, 1905, while attempting to arrest a man for killing Egrets in the Everglades.Walter Smith, a well-known plume hunter, sailed out to Oyster Keys Rookery. In sight of Guy Bradley’s cottage, his son Tom and a friend went ashore and started killing Egrets. Smith was angry with Bradley for arresting Tom on two previous occasions. He had threatened "that if Guy Bradley ever attempted to arrest him, or any of his family again, he would kill him". Bradley approached Smith in his skiff and stated that he wanted Tom and his companion, "under a charge of violating the law by shooting plume-birds". Smith replied, "Well, if you want him you have got to come aboard of this boat and take him" at the same time picking up his rifle. Bradley said, "Put down that rifle, and I will come aboard". According to Smith’s statement, "Bradley immediately fired at him with his pistol, the bullet striking the mast of the boat, and Smith immediately fired his rifle at Bradley, killing him".Louis Bradley found his brother’s body the next day still adrift in the small skiff. Bradley was buried on a shell ridge at Cape Sable overlooking Florida Bay. A monument was erected by the Florida Audubon Society. The grave was later washed away in a storm.Walter Smith turned himself into the authorities in Key West, where he spent five months in jail unable to raise the $5,000 bond.A case was made that he had deliberately plotted to murder Bradley. Bradley’s pistol showed no evidence of having been fired. But the only witnesses were friends of Smith who were below deck at the time, and claimed to have heard two shots close together. The grand jury failed to indict Smith, and he was released.A few weeks after Bradley’s murder, a sort of frontier justice was extracted by the two young brothers of Sophronia Bradley, Guy’s widow, who burned down Smith’s house.
Deputy Frank Adams, killed in 1901
Photo gallery of March 10, 2006 memorial service
Frank Adams, a deputy sheriff for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, was shot and killed in the line of duty October 7, 1901 while attempting to arrest a man who had interfered with him in the discharge of his duty.
The shooting occurred after two drunken men started fighting near Jackson Square in Key West. They separated and one of the men began to use profane language as he walked up Thomas Street. Deputy Adams, who was sitting near the corner of Southard and Thomas Streets, arrested the man and attempted to take him to jail, but the man resisted and Deputy Adams called out for assistance.
Two men named Fleming and Gabriel took hold of the man to assist the deputy. Another man pushed some bystanders aside and said that he would not allow them to arrest his brother. Deputy Adams released the first man he had arrested and grabbed the man who interfered. They began to struggle, and after a short scuffle a pistol shot rang out. When the first shot rang out all the bystanders with the exception of one, a mate on the steamer Laurel, ran away; the two men holding the arrested man let him go and fled also.
Adams had been shot in the arm, and he fell to the ground, with the man who shot him falling on top of him. Adams was shot several more times, with one bullet hitting him in the left chest, penetrating his heart and another wounding him in the face. After shooting Adams, the man got up and ran down Southard Street toward what was then the Government Reservation.
A large crowd soon gathered around the body of Deputy Adams and the mate from the Laurel - the only one to stay at the scene. The mate told the crowd how the murder had happened. Deputy Adam’s body was taken home. The following day the shooter, Robert J. Frank, was caught and identified by the mate from the Laurel as the person who shot and killed Adams. He was arrested for and charged with murdering the deputy. At the preliminary hearing Robert Frank admitted to the shooting and said that he was sorry for it. He said that had anyone attempted to arrest him, he would have shot them as well. When searched he had some empty cartridges and a loaded pistol, with extra ammunition in his pocket.
Frank Adams’ Legacy
Frank Adams was born to William and Miranda Adams July 12, 1859, one of six children. He and his wife, Clementine in turn had six children, Lillian (died 1957), Lenora (died as a toddler), Willard (died 1918), James (died in the 1940s), Gladys (died in the 1930s) and Bernard (died in the 1980s). Gladys married William McGee and had one child, Wilhelmina. Gladys died when Wilhelmina was very young and the child was raised by Lillian. None of Frank’s other children had any offspring. Wilhelmina was his only grandchild. Wilhelmina married and had two girls, Lillian and Angela. Lillian, who lives in Atlanta, Georgia has one son, William, and one grandchild, Alexa. Both William and Alexa live in Miami, Florida. Angela has one son, who just returned from duty in Iraq and is stationed at Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah, Georgia.
Questions or Comments?
Contact Deputy Becky Herrin, Public Information Officer and Web Author or Sheriff Richard Roth via e-mail
For other phone and e-mail contact information, see the "Contact Information" page.
Monroe County Sheriff's Office
5525 College Road
Key West, FL 33040
This web site was last updated December 22, 2007
