YEAR OLD WOMAN WHO TRIED TO HELP THE PREGNANT WOMAN. NEW INFORMATION TONIGHT ABOUT A MAN ACCUSED OF KILLING HIS WIFE WITH DEMENTIA. INVESTIGATORS NOW SAY THIS HAPPENED AFTER A HEATED ARGUMENT. TONIGHT WE SPOKE WITH HIS ATTORNEY, WESH 2’S. GAIL PASCHALL-BROWN IS LIVE WITH WHAT HE HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE ELDERLY MAN WHO IS A FORMER ORLANDO POLICE OFFICER. GAIL. THAT’S RIGHT. STEWART WILLIAM SIMMONS IS A 25 YEAR VETERAN OR WAS A 25 YEAR VETERAN OF THE ORLANDO POLICE DEPARTMENT. AND HIS ATTORNEY TELLS ME THAT HE NEVER FIRED HIS SERVICE WEAPON WHILE HE WAS ON DUTY. HIS WIFE DID SUFFER WITH DEMENTIA. AND I ASKED HIS ATTORNEY TONIGHT, HOW DOES HE PLAN TO DEFEND HIS CLIENT? HE’S GOD SAD, AND HE KNOWS THAT HE DESTROYED HER, HER LIFE. HE ALSO KNOWS THAT HE DESTROYED HIS, WHATEVER IT TURNS OUT TO BE. CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY MARK O’MARA OF ORLANDO IS REPRESENTING 80 YEAR OLD WILLIAM SIMMONS. SIMMONS IS ACCUSED OF SHOOTING AND KILLING HIS 83 YEAR OLD WIFE, NANCY, DURING AN ARGUMENT OVER A CRUISE IN THEIR ORLANDO HOME SATURDAY. SIMMONS CALLED 911, TOLD THE DISPATCHER HIS WIFE WAS DOWN. AND I’M JUST SITTING HERE. HE’S A 25 YEAR VETERAN OF ORLANDO POLICE DEPARTMENT. HE RETIRED LIKE 15, 20 YEARS AGO. SO HE’S BEEN IN RETIREMENT, DID SOME SECURITY JOBS, BUT HE WAS MARRIED TO HER NANCY FOR 43 YEARS. SHE HAD SUFFERED FROM DEMENTIA AND GOT VIOLENT. SCRATCHING AND BITING. WE SAW MARKS ON HIS ARMS, ONE TIME. THE STORY IS THAT SHE GRABBED THE WHEEL WHEN THEY WERE DRIVING AND PUT HIM INTO A CURB, WILLIAMS TOLD INVESTIGATORS HE HAD DEALT WITH HER DEMENTIA FOR TOO LONG. WOULD RATHER LIVE IN PRISON THAN LIVE WITH HER, AND LOVED THE OLD NANCY. HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH THE REALITY THAT THE PERSON YOU DO LOVE IS NO LONGER WITH YOU, EVEN THOUGH HER BODY IS? BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY A FIREARM WAS USED IN THIS CASE. AND HE SAID, YOU KNOW, I NEVER DISCHARGED MY FIREARM IN THE LINE OF DUTY 25 YEARS. HE ALSO SAID HE NEVER GOT INTO A FIGHT. IF THIS FIGHT WITH ANYBODY IN 25 YEARS. SO HOW DO YOU DEFEND THIS CLIENT? WE’RE NOT GOING TO SAY HE DIDN’T DO IT. HE DID IT. IT SEEMS FROM ALL THE FORENSICS. BUT WHAT WE SAY IS WHY? AND I THINK HE JUST SNAPPED. MARK O’MARA SAYS THEY WILL GET HIM EVALUATED BY PSYCHIATRISTS AND LOOK INTO HER MEDICAL RECORDS. THE WORST IS HE’LL JUST DIE IN PRISON. THE WHAT I HOPE FOR IS SOME JUDGE, SOME PROSECUTOR, TO UNDERSTAND THAT THIS WAS NOT A CRIMINALLY INTENDED ACT. WE HAVE TO HAVE SOME MERCY, SOME UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT HAPPENS IN THE THROES OF DESPAIR THAT HAPPENS WITH DEMENTIA, THE WAY IT GOT WITH NANCY. WILLIAM SIMMONS REMAINS IN THE ORANGE COUNTY JAIL. HE FACES A CHARGE O
911 call released after former Orlando police officer accused of shooting, killing wife
Updated: 6:02 PM EDT May 5, 2026
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has released the 911 call placed by a former Orlando police officer who’s accused of shooting and killing his wife in February.Shortly after 5 p.m. on Feb. 21, 80-year-old William Simmons called 911 to request police and medics to his location in the 8000 block of Romerly Court.”This is 911, is everything OK?” a dispatcher can be heard asking Simmons.”No, it’s not,” Simmons replied, going on to give mostly short answers to further questions.>> VIDEO ABOVE: Former Orlando police officer accused of shooting wife with dementiaFirst responders could be heard arriving to the home within several minutes, with one of them asking Simmons, “What happened?”Simmons’ wife, 83-year-old Nancy Lee Simmons, was pronounced dead just before 6 p.m., records show. The incident report states she was found lying supine on the kitchen floor with blood visible around her shoulder.William Simmons allegedly shot and killed her during an argument over a cruise, according to investigators. According to Mark O’Mara, a criminal defense attorney representing William Simmons, the couple was married for 43 years and Nancy Lee Simmons suffered from dementia. Investigators said they spoke with a neighbor who told them he had observed the married couple arguing on multiple occasions over the years. The incident report states the neighbor alleged Nancy Lee Simmons was “often verbally and physically aggressive toward William,” adding William Simmons had allegedly raised concerns of excessive alcohol consumption and ensuing arguments on his wife’s part.In remarks to investigators, William Simmons reportedly said that he had “dealt with her dementia for too long, would rather live in prison than live with her, and loved the old Nancy,” according to O’Mara, who added Simmons will be evaluated by psychiatrists.”We’re not going to say he didn’t do it. He did it — it seems, from all the forensics — but what we say is, ‘Why?’ I think he just snapped. I think it was just the built-up over time where you try to deal with the person who you loved, and certainly loved who she was, before the disease took over her personality, her mind,” O’Mara said. “(…) He knows that he destroyed her, her life, and he also knows he destroyed his, whatever it turns out to be.”William Simmons s is being held in the Orange County Jail and faces a charge of first-degree murder in his wife’s death.William Simmons is a 25-year veteran from OPD and retired 15-20 years ago. He had taken on some security jobs.
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. —
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has released the 911 call placed by a former Orlando police officer who’s accused of shooting and killing his wife in February.
Shortly after 5 p.m. on Feb. 21, 80-year-old William Simmons called 911 to request police and medics to his location in the 8000 block of Romerly Court.
“This is 911, is everything OK?” a dispatcher can be heard asking Simmons.
“No, it’s not,” Simmons replied, going on to give mostly short answers to further questions.
>> VIDEO ABOVE: Former Orlando police officer accused of shooting wife with dementia
First responders could be heard arriving to the home within several minutes, with one of them asking Simmons, “What happened?”
Simmons’ wife, 83-year-old Nancy Lee Simmons, was pronounced dead just before 6 p.m., records show. The incident report states she was found lying supine on the kitchen floor with blood visible around her shoulder.
William Simmons allegedly shot and killed her during an argument over a cruise, according to investigators. According to Mark O’Mara, a criminal defense attorney representing William Simmons, the couple was married for 43 years and Nancy Lee Simmons suffered from dementia.
Investigators said they spoke with a neighbor who told them he had observed the married couple arguing on multiple occasions over the years. The incident report states the neighbor alleged Nancy Lee Simmons was “often verbally and physically aggressive toward William,” adding William Simmons had allegedly raised concerns of excessive alcohol consumption and ensuing arguments on his wife’s part.
In remarks to investigators, William Simmons reportedly said that he had “dealt with her dementia for too long, would rather live in prison than live with her, and loved the old Nancy,” according to O’Mara, who added Simmons will be evaluated by psychiatrists.
“We’re not going to say he didn’t do it. He did it — it seems, from all the forensics — but what we say is, ‘Why?’ I think he just snapped. I think it was just the built-up over time where you try to deal with the person who you loved, and certainly loved who she was, before the disease took over her personality, her mind,” O’Mara said. “(…) He knows that he destroyed her, her life, and he also knows he destroyed his, whatever it turns out to be.”
William Simmons s is being held in the Orange County Jail and faces a charge of first-degree murder in his wife’s death.
William Simmons is a 25-year veteran from OPD and retired 15-20 years ago. He had taken on some security jobs.