SEBRING, Fla. — The girlfriend of a man who was shot and killed after he hit a Highlands County deputy on the head with a metal bar was arrested in connection to the incident, a news release from the sheriff's office explains.
Lakenya Phillips, 30, is now facing several criminal charges for her involvement in the confrontation between 39-year-old Richard Ham and deputies that led to a shooting on Tuesday.
Charges include attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting arrest with violence and cruelty toward a child.
At her first appearance in court, Phillips was ordered to be held without bond.
"Additionally, prosecutors told the judge that the state will be seeking a felony murder charge in relation to her actions in that contributed to the death of 39-year-old Richard Myron Ham," the sheriff's office wrote in the release.
The incident started at 4:07 p.m. when authorities received a report regarding several people who were burning a pile of debris on the side of Bay Blossom Drive at the intersection of US. 98 in Sebring, a previous news release explains.
Crews with the Highlands County Fire Rescue arrived at the scene, but after they noticed the situation looked suspicious, they requested law enforcement to take a look, deputies say.
When two deputies arrived, they foundHam armed with two metal rods, authorities say. The deputies then told Ham to drop the rods, but he refused and then a taser was used on him.
However, the taser did not impact Ham as he pulled the probes from his body. This is when Phillips reportedly picked up one of the bars and handed it to Ham.
The 39-year-old reportedly used the bar to swing it at one of the deputies and hit them in the head. The other deputy then fired his gun at Ham, the sheriff's office says.
Ham was taken to a hospital where he later died. The injured deputy was also taken to another hospital but has since been released after being treated.
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According to the agency, Phillips started to push deputies immediately after the shooting when they tried to secure Ham and start life-saving measures.
She was taken into custody at the scene.
Investigators say Ham and Phillips were burning the belongings of Phillips' 9-year-old son because they thought he was being possessed by a demon.
Witnesses reportedly told law enforcement that Ham at one point even put the child into the fire and covered him with a blanket, which caught fire. Luckily, the child did not suffer any serious injuries.
Deputies say Phillips and her son were listed as missing and endangered out of Kansas on Dec. 6. Authorities still do not know when or why they arrived in Highlands County.
The child reportedly told authorities that his mom and her boyfriend had regularly been using drugs, and he was threatened earlier by Ham with a large knife. He's now in the custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families.
10 Tampa Bay's Leo Santos contributed to this report.