The shots heard around our world

Fred Lane Jr. beat the odds by rising from tiny Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee to become the NFL Carolina Panthers' career rushing leader(1997 to 2000) before being traded to the Indianapolis Colts in the Spring 2000.

The former Carolina Panther had just returned home from visiting relatives in Tennessee in July 2000, after training with his new team, when he was shot to death in the door of his Charlotte home, ambushed by his wife, Deidre Lane.

Fred Lane's killing 10 years ago created another shock to Charlotte pro sports.

Ten years ago today, Fred Lane died just inside his home in south Charlotte, shot twice by his own wife. Police found his body just inside the front door. His keys still hung in the door lock, a detail that haunts me a decade later. It was a horrifying moment in Charlotte's sports history. If you lived here then, you probably remember where you were when you heard of the shooting of Lane, a former Carolina Panthers starting running back. I certainly do - it was one of the oddest, saddest days of my journalism career.

Lane, 24, was killed by his estranged wife Deidra Lane at their South Charlotte home. She shot her husband twice at close range with a 12-gauge, pump-action shotgun. The first blast struck his chest. The second hit the back of his head. Deidra Lane ultimately pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2003 in connection with her husband's death. She was released from prison in 2009. Deidra and Fred Lane had a newborn daughter who was seven days old at the time of the shooting. That child had her 10th birthday last week.

Deidra Lane, the widow of slain former Carolina Panthers running back Fred Lane.

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