Murder warrant issued for wife of pro football player

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - The widow of NFL running back Fred Lane surrendered to authorities Wednesday, hours after police issued a warrant charging her with killing him during a domestic dispute.

Deidra Lane, 25, turned herself in at the Mecklenburg County Jail about 7:20 a.m.

Lane, 24, a former Carolina Panthers running back who was traded to Indianapolis in April, was killed in the couple's suburban Charlotte home July 6. Police said his wife shot him.

A woman answering the telephone at the home of Henderson Hill, Ms. Lane's attorney, refused to allow a reporter to speak with him late Tuesday.

Mecklenburg County Assistant District Attorney Marsha Goodenow authorized police Tuesday to obtain a warrant charging her with murder, The Charlotte Observer reported Wednesday.

Goodenow, who reviewed the police investigation into the shooting, declined to talk about the authorities' findings or why she approved the charge.

Lane had been staying with relatives in Tennessee after training with Indianapolis.

Ms. Lane had filed a complaint against her husband in March, saying he snatched a necklace from her neck during an argument, causing her to fall. She did not press charges and later said she only called police 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.