Estranged wife suspected in double shooting; Couple's pastor speaks out

LAKELAND, Fla. - A 33-year-old woman fled to Alabama after shooting her estranged husband and his girlfriend in their Lakeland home Sunday night, according to Polk County officials.

Deputies say Aimee Darlene Streeter shot her estranged husband, 36-year-old Tabarri Clayton, and his girlfriend, Janice Lucas, 35, around 10:30 pm at 617 Crescent Hills Place, Lakeland.

Both victims were taken to Lakeland Regional Medical Center.  Clayton is listed in stable condition.  Lucas is in critical condition.

Clayton told deputies that he arrived home from church, and as he went to turn on the light, he saw a shadow move, and then he was shot in the back.  He said it was his soon-to-be ex-wife.

Lucas was shot five times, in the chest, abdomen, one arm, and on each leg.  She played dead after being shot, and told deputies that the suspect dragged her into a bedroom.  She heard the suspect reloading a gun or picking up shell casings.

"Both of them are the kindest people I have ever seen and I can't understand why someone would do something like this," said Pastor Gregory Hawthorne, who worshipped alongside Clayton and Lucas earlier Sunday at New Life Deliverance Praise and Worship Ministries in Winter Haven.

Sheriff Grady Judd said Lucas previously worked for Sheriff's Office, first in the communications department, then in a clerical role.

A faithful Christian, said Judd, she is in extremely critical condition, and doctors don't know if she will survive.  "Physicians are fighting to save her life."

Hawthorne, who visited the couple at the hospital, told ABC Action News Lucas is sedated but Clayton is up and talking.

Judd said some 16 years ago, before Streeter and Clayton married, Lucas and Clayton had a child out of wedlock.  A while ago, the child died from liver failure, according to Hawthorne.

The two filed a multimillion dollar malpractice suit, and became close once again.  Lucas divorced her husband, and Clayton told Streeter he wanted a divorce.

Streeter would not agree to the split, according to Judd, and is upset that Clayton wouldn't give her a share of the settlement money.  Judd says there is a significant sum of money at stake.

Deputies say it appears Streeter broke in the house and waited for couple to come home.  "She planned this out," said Judd.  "From experience, that's one woman mad about something."

Judd said Streeter has a history of crime, and that she "Gets angry when things do not go her way."

Streeter is facing two charges of attempted murder.

Meanwhile, Hawthorne is praying for the couple.

"We just had that this tragedy happened," he said.

Hawthorne said he will return to the hospital Tuesday.  Also expected at the hospital are Clayton's family members.  They drove in from Alabama. Lucas's family is also in town tonight having flown in from New York.

A barber shop the couple owned will be closed for the next few days, according to Hawthorne.