Warrant Issued for Fred Lane's Wife

CHARLOTTE (AP) â€” The widow of NFL running back Fred Lane surrendered to authorities early Wednesday, hours after police issued a warrant charging her with murder. <br><br>Deidra Lane, 25, turned herself

Wednesday, August 23rd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CHARLOTTE (AP) â€” The widow of NFL running back Fred Lane surrendered to authorities early Wednesday, hours after police issued a warrant charging her with murder.

Deidra Lane, 25, turned herself in at about 7:20 a.m.

Police have said Deidra Lane shot her husband on July 6 during a domestic dispute, only a week after the birth of the couple's daughter.

Lane, 24, was shot in the chest and in the head at close range about an hour after arriving at the couple's home from Nashville, Tenn.

Lane had been staying with relatives in Tennessee after training with Indianapolis, which acquired him from the Carolina Panthers in a trade in April.

``I'm hurt. I know her family's hurt,'' Fred Lane Sr. told The Charlotte Observer after learning that the warrant would be drawn. ``It's tough on both sides. But someone has to answer for it. I still don't believe this had to happen.''

Deidra Lane's lawyer, Henderson Hill, said his client would cooperate with investigators.

``We have a very young woman going through a very traumatic time and this makes it all that much more difficult,'' he said after she turned herself in.

Mecklenburg County Assistant District Attorney Marsha Goodenow declined to talk about investigators' findings or why she approved the charge, the Observer reported.

Lane's death came eight months after former Carolina teammate Rae Carruth and three other men were charged with killing Carruth's pregnant girlfriend. Carruth, 26, is being held without bond awaiting trial for first-degree murder.

Fred and Deidra Lane were married in 1998. In March, Deidra Lane filed a complaint against her husband, saying he snatched a necklace from around her neck during an argument, causing her to fall. She did not press charges and later said she called police only because she was locked out of the house.

Three days before his death, a grand jury in Jackson, Tenn., indicted Lane on misdemeanor drug charges stemming from a Feb. 3 arrest. Prosecutors dropped weapons charges, citing a lack of evidence.

Deidra Lane also has had run-ins with police. In 1995, she was charged with attempted robbery of a South Carolina credit union. She completed a diversion program and was not convicted.

Just last week, warrants were issued charging her with writing two worthless checks, one on May 30 for $150, the other on June 1 for $300, according to the Mecklenburg County sheriff's office.

Lane, a 5-foot-10, 205-pound running back, played for three seasons with Carolina and became the Panthers' leading career rusher in November.

The Panthers re-signed Lane before the 1999 season to a two-year, $1.276 million contract with a $300,000 signing bonus. Lane shared rushing duties with Tshimanga Biakabutuka but played largely as a backup late in the season.