KILL AND MISUSE OF A TWO WAY COMMUNICATION DEVICE. RIGHT NOW, AT NOON, THIS ORANGE COUNTY MAN IS IN JAIL ACCUSED OF SHOOTING AND KILLING HIS 83 YEAR OLD WIFE. HE’S BEING CHARGED NOW WITH FIRST DEGREE MURDER. WESH 2’S MICHELLE MEREDITH IS JOINING US LIVE. MICHELLE. YOU JUST GOT YOUR HANDS ON A COPY OF THE ARREST REPORT. WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED? WELL, THE REPORT SAYS THAT THE COUPLE, BOTH IN THEIR 80S, WERE ARGUING AND THAT THE HUSBAND ENDED THE ARGUMENT BY SHOOTING HIS WIFE TO DEATH. HIS WIFE? HE TOLD INVESTIGATORS WHO WAS SUFFERING FROM DEMENTIA. THIS HAPPENED ABOUT 530 IN THE EVENING SATURDAY, AND THE COUPLE’S ORLANDO HOME. NOW, ACCORDING TO THE REPORT, THE HUSBAND, 80 YEAR OLD WILLIAM SIMMONS, CALLED 911 TO SAY HE HAD JUST SHOT HIS WIFE, 83 YEAR OLD NANCY SIMMONS TOLD THE DISPATCHER THAT HIS WIFE, QUOTE, WAS DOWN. AND I’M JUST SITTING HERE. DEPUTIES FOUND NANCY SIMMONS WITH A GUNSHOT WOUND TO HER CHEST. SIMMONS SAID THEY WERE ARGUING OVER A CRUISE THAT SHE KEPT CALLING HIM A NAME HE FOUND TRIGGERING. SO HE GOT HIS SHOTGUN FROM HIS CLOSET AND SHOT HER IN THE KITCHEN. SIMMONS SAID HE WOULD RATHER LIVE IN PRISON THAN TO CONTINUE TO LIVE WITH HER, AND HER CONDITION. AND HE ALSO TOLD INVESTIGATORS THAT HE LOVED THE OLD NAN
Man kills wife with dementia after heated argument at their Orlando home, deputies say
Updated: 1:11 PM EST Feb 23, 2026
A man is in jail, accused of shooting and killing his 83-year-old wife during an argument at their Orlando home on Saturday evening, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.William Simmons, 80, is charged with first-degree murder after he reportedly ended the dispute by shooting his wife, Nancy Simmons, who he said had been struggling with dementia. The incident occurred around 5:30 p.m. Simmons called 911 to report the shooting, telling the dispatcher that his wife “was down and I’m just sitting here.”When authorities arrived, they found Nancy dead on the kitchen floor with a gunshot wound to her chest. Simmons told investigators that the argument was about a cruise and that his wife kept calling him a name he found triggering. He said he went to his bedroom closet, pointed the gun at her, and shot her in the kitchen.Simmons also stated that his wife had dementia and that he would rather live in prison than continue dealing with her, expressing that he loved the “old Nancy.”
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —
A man is in jail, accused of shooting and killing his 83-year-old wife during an argument at their Orlando home on Saturday evening, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
William Simmons, 80, is charged with first-degree murder after he reportedly ended the dispute by shooting his wife, Nancy Simmons, who he said had been struggling with dementia.
The incident occurred around 5:30 p.m. Simmons called 911 to report the shooting, telling the dispatcher that his wife “was down and I’m just sitting here.”
When authorities arrived, they found Nancy dead on the kitchen floor with a gunshot wound to her chest.
Simmons told investigators that the argument was about a cruise and that his wife kept calling him a name he found triggering. He said he went to his bedroom closet, pointed the gun at her, and shot her in the kitchen.
Simmons also stated that his wife had dementia and that he would rather live in prison than continue dealing with her, expressing that he loved the “old Nancy.”