Sheriff warns of Illegitimate Facebook posts of slain Charlotte County deputy

CHARLOTTE COUNTY, Fla.—The Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office is warning the public of illegitimate posts circulating on Facebook, saying that a deputy was killed in the line of duty over the past weekend.

On Tuesday, the sheriff’s office posted on its Facebook account a warning to people about several accounts claiming that Deputy Christopher Taylor was killed in a DUI crash while volunteering for the Super Bowl and/or associating his photo with an NFL team.

The sheriff’s office says that the links attached to the Facebook posts are referred to as “clickbait,” which, according to Merriam-Webster, is “something (such as a headline) designed to make readers want to click on a hyperlink, especially when the link leads to content of dubious value or interest.”

Deputy Taylor was killed in 2022 while conducting a traffic stop on Interstate 75 near mile marker 163 in Punta Gorda. He was struck and killed by Cassandra Smith, who was convicted of DUI manslaughter in 2024.

At the time of her arrest, Smith’s blood alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit.

WINK News covered Deputy Taylor and Cassandra Smith extensively, chronicling her arrest and conviction, and the measures taken to preserve Taylor’s name posthumously. 

The sheriff’s office asks the public not to engage with posts, adding that seeing Deputy Taylor’s face being used for “personal gain is truly an added and unnecessary heartbreak.”