Search fatalities

Patsy Joyce Terry

Age : 76

Gender : Female

Race : White

Date : 06/17/2021

Location : State Road 70, north of the intersection with Midway Road

City : Fort Pierce

County : St. Lucie

State : Florida

Agency : Vero Beach Police Department; Indian River County Sheriff’s Office

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON FOR CHASE: Vero Beach police attempted to stop a 2019 BMW i8 driven by 18-year-old Derrick Tyrone Lamb. Available public reporting does not disclose the specific violation or other reason that prompted the initial attempted stop. Lamb later told investigators he fled because he was on probation and had never possessed a driver's license.
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NARRATIVE:
On 06/17/2021, Vero Beach Police Department officers attempted to stop a 2019 BMW i8 driven by Derrick Tyrone Lamb in Indian River County. Lamb fled, and Vero Beach police and Indian River County Sheriff's Office personnel attempted to apprehend him. During the flight, investigators said Lamb drove the wrong way on a one-way street, ran a red light, weaved through traffic and reached speeds as high as 117 mph in a 35-mph zone.
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An Indian River County Sheriff's Office sergeant followed the BMW but eventually lost sight of it after Lamb turned onto Highland Drive Southeast and traveled west toward Old Dixie Highway Southeast. The fatal collision occurred after law enforcement had lost visual contact with the BMW. Assistant State Attorney Jonathon Libby later stated that there was no active police pursuit at the moment of the fatal crash. Indian River County deputies subsequently encountered the crash while searching for Lamb.
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At approximately 11:05 a.m., Lamb drove south on Old Dixie Highway into northern St. Lucie County. Patsy Joyce Terry, 76, was returning home after taking her great-grandson to soccer camp in Vero Beach. Terry was driving a 1998 Toyota Camry and was making a right turn from eastbound Julian Drive when Lamb's BMW struck her vehicle.
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Florida Highway Patrol investigators reconstructed the collision and calculated that Lamb was traveling between approximately 86 mph and 108 mph at impact, while Terry's Camry was moving at approximately 1 mph. Terry was ejected from her vehicle and sustained fatal injuries. Her daughter witnessed the collision from the front porch of Terry's home.
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Lamb had a passenger in the BMW. He survived the collision. A witness who called 911 reported that Lamb asked her not to call police. Lamb's passenger later told investigators that after the crash Lamb attempted to claim that she had been driving. Lamb subsequently acknowledged that he had never possessed a driver's license in any state and said he had fled from police because he was on probation and did not have a license.
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The Florida Highway Patrol conducted the fatal-crash investigation. The later investigation established that the pursuit and search originated in Indian River County with Vero Beach police and Indian River County Sheriff's Office personnel; FHP was the crash-investigating agency rather than the agency that initiated the pursuit.
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DISPOSITION:
The fleeing driver was Derrick Tyrone Lamb, who was 18 at the time of the crash. FHP arrested Lamb in June 2022 on a vehicular-homicide charge arising from Terry's death.
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In May 2025, Lamb entered a no-contest plea to vehicular homicide and driving while license suspended or without a license resulting in death or serious injury. On 08/21/2025, Circuit Judge Michael J. Linn sentenced Lamb to 10 years in the Florida Department of Corrections, with credit for 1,178 days already served. Prosecutors had requested a 15-year prison sentence followed by probation, but Terry's family asked the court not to impose the maximum sentence.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Vero Beach Police Department officer or officers who initially attempted to stop Lamb and the Indian River County Sheriff's Office sergeant who subsequently followed the BMW have not been identified by name in the available public reporting. No officer background is included without a verified identification of the personnel involved in the pursuit.
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TOTAL FATALITIES/INJURIES: 1 fatality

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/st-lucie-county/2021/06/18/woman-killed-st-lucie-county-crash-during-fhp-pursuit/7746314002/
https://www.tcpalm.com/story/news/crime/st-lucie-county/2025/09/11/23-year-old-man-sentenced-after-deadly-2021-crash-in-st-lucie-county/86098135007/
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/tcpalm/name/patsy-terry-obituary?id=10655301
https://www.yahoo.com/news/man-jailed-traffic-death-woman-182322391.html