'A hero': Gadsden County deputy shot by 'career criminal' recovering after confrontation

Christopher Cann and Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat

November 18, 2021 at 12:08 AM·4 min read

Chicara Hearns, deputy for the Gadsden County Sheriff's Office, is recovering after a suspect shot her Tuesday. Sheriff Morris Young said her bulletproof vest saved her life.

HAVANA — Robert Rodriguez and his wife were at their home down a secluded dead end road in Havana on Tuesday when they heard a “loud bang” followed by multiple gun shots.

He opened his front door and saw a Gadsden County deputy — later identified as Chicara Hearns — crawl out of her patrol car, bleeding and injured. He helped her up the porch stairs into the living room. As she lay on the couch, she told him to “lock the door and call 911.”

“Everything happened so fast,” Rodriguez said. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Taking instructions from a 911 dispatcher, he untied and removed Hearns’ bloody bulletproof vest, and his wife, Melody, applied pressure to a gunshot wound.

At approximately 11:45 a.m., a Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office (GCSO) Deputy was intentionally rammed by a suspected stolen vehicle on Jamieson Road just south of Forest Drive North in Gadsden County.

Within minutes, an off-duty deputy arrived and rendered first aid. Not long after, the deputy stood her up, walked her to his car and rushed her to Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare.

The shooting happened along a secluded stretch of Jamieson Road in Northern Gadsden County, after Hearns came upon a stolen truck she and other officers were trying to find. The man behind the wheel was Dexter Lawson, a 38-year-old felon from Quincy.

Deputy Chicara Hearns: Gadsden Sheriff's Office: Man fired multiple shots at deputy after ramming her patrol car

“She noticed him,” said Lt. Anglie Holmes, a spokeswoman for the Gadsden County Sheriff’s Office. “He was heading in her direction and just rammed her head-on and pinned her in a ditch. (He) got out and opened fire on her.”

A grey work truck rammed into a Gadsden County Sheriff squad car on Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2021.

Lawson fired three rounds, with two stopped by Hearns' bulletproof vest and another striking her, Sheriff Morris Young said in a news conference Wednesday. It missed all of her major organs but remains inside her, Young said. Doctors hope to remove it later.

“This vest along with the good Lord saved our deputy yesterday,” Young said as he held up her bulletproof vest.

Lawson, his stolen truck disabled from the crash with Hearns’ patrol car, fled into nearby woods. More than two dozen Florida Highway Patrol troopers scoured the area, calling in police dogs and drones to find Lawson.

He was apprehended within hours and taken to the Leon County Detention Facility, where he remains without bond. He's facing charges of attempted murder, grand theft of a motor vehicle and tampering with evidence.

Hearns continues to recuperate in the hospital. Young said she wanted to thank the community and fellow law enforcement officers for their outpouring of support and help.

“She’s in high spirits,” Young said. “She is so grateful of her law enforcement community who came to assist and backed her up.”

Sheriff: 'I hope and pray he goes away for a long time'

Lawson, a designated violent felon, has been in and out of jail or prison for much of his life, according to court records. He first went off to prison in 1999 — when he was just 15 years old — for armed robbery and stealing a car. He served five other prison stints on charges that include dealing in cocaine and marijuana.

A Gadsden County Sheriff's Office vehicle is riddled with bullet holes.

He was twice convicted of fleeing and eluding law enforcement. In 2005, he got a two-year sentence for battery after throwing bodily fluids at a correctional officer in Santa Rosa County.

In 2017, he was arrested in Orange County after police pulled over a Dodge Dart stolen out of Tallahassee. Lawson, a passenger in the car, was found with marijuana, crack cocaine and stolen credit cards, according to police reports, and later sentenced to 60 days in jail.

Young called Lawson a "career criminal" — with more than 25 felony and multiple misdemeanor arrests — who didn't want to go back to prison.

“I hope and pray that he goes away for a long time,” the sheriff said.

State prison records show Lawson was last incarcerated for a single day in April after he was sentenced for violating his probation in the Orlando case. He was sentenced to two years in prison but given the same amount of credit for time served.

More recent Tallahassee-area shootings:

'A wonderful human being and a hero'

Deputy Hearns, who was born and raised in Havana, graduated from the Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy in 2017, earning a bachelor's degree in criminology from Florida State University that same year.

She worked at Wakulla Correctional Institute before joining the Sheriff's Office in 2019. In a Facebook post last year honoring Women's History Month, the Sheriff's Office said she was working as a bailiff at the courthouse.

Her favorite scripture is from First Corinthians: "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong."

Rodriguez, the Good Samaritan who helped her, said he recognized Hearns as she limped to his porch from an earlier domestic violence call involving a family member and her boyfriend.

Robert Rodriguez, 72, stands on his porch reflecting on his experience helping an injured deputy on Nov. 17, 2021.

“I had to help her because she helped us before,” he said. “She was an awfully sweet woman that was friendly and tried to help ... as much as she could."

Rodriguez said he and his wife prayed for Hearns' recovery all night after the shooting.

“I am so happy to hear that she’ll be alright," he said. "She’s a wonderful human being and a hero.”

Contact Christopher Cann at ccann@tallahassee.com and follow @ChrisCannFL on Twitter.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Gadsden County deputy Chicara Hearns recovering after confrontation, shooting

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Sheriff: 'I hope and pray he goes away for a long time'

'A wonderful human being and a hero'

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