Polk pastor found dead five months after church shooting

A pastor was found dead in his home five months after he was wounded during a shooting at Lakeland church that also wounded another pastor.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office said a friend became worried last week after he hadn't heard from 65-year-old Rev. Carl Stewart. The friend, who regularly visits the pastor, found Stewart dead about 9 a.m. Thursday.

Stewart and the Rev. William Boss were wounded in the September shooting at the Greater Faith Center Christian Center. Stewart was shot in the head, shoulder and back, and his recovery has reportedly been difficult.

Jeremiah Fogle, 57, was arrested in the shootings as well as in the slaying of his wife, whose body was found at their home after the church attack.

The medical examiner has conducted an autopsy to determine Stewart's cause of death, a news release from the Polk sheriff's office said. The results of the autopsy are pending toxicology tests, which can take at least six weeks.  

The state attorney's office will wait for the autopsy results before deciding whether to charge Fogle in the pastor's death, the sheriff's office said in a news release.

In September, a grand jury indicted Fogle on a first-degree murder charge in his wife's death and three counts of attempted first-degree murder in the church shootings. He was also charged with shooting into an occupied dwelling.

Fogle was being held in the Polk County Jail without bail.

According to deputies, Fogle was armed with a .32-caliber Colt revolver when he walked into the north Lakeland church shortly before 10 a.m. Sept. 18.

He went directly to Boss, who was kneeling and leading church members in prayer before the Sunday service, and took a close look to make sure it was Boss. Then Fogle shot Boss once in the back of the head, an arrest report states.

Fogle, a former deacon at the church, then turned and shot Stewart once behind the left ear, once in the left shoulder and once in the center of the back, deputies said.

Many attendees ran, but parishioner Derrick Foster, a teacher at the church, tried making his way to Fogle. He tackled Fogle, and as they fell to the ground, Foster grabbed for the gun and was able to lock up the weapon.

Fogle later told deputies he killed his wife, Theresa, at their home a block away, the arrest report states. Deputies found 56-year-old Theresa Fogle dead in the living room area at the entrance to the kitchen.

Fogle was also accused in the fatal shooting of a previous wife, Diane Fogle, in 1986. He was charged with murder, but the charge was reduced to manslaughter, adjudication was withheld and Fogle received 10 years probation in a plea deal.