Broward sheriff ’s sergeant dies at 48 from COVID-19

The Broward County Sheriff ’s Office announced Saturday that a veteran sergeant had died from COVID-19.

Sergeant Shane Owens, 48, had worked for nearly 30 years with BSO’s Department of Detention. He had been hospitalized and on a ventilator prior to his death from the coronavirus on Saturday, according to the BSO Facebook page.

Owens is the seventh employee of BSO to die from the coronavirus, according to spokesperson Veda Coleman-Wright.

“We’re devastated,” Coleman-Wright said.

“He was an asset to the organization, who always put forth the extra effort into his duties,” the Sheriff ’s office said on Facebook. “His experience, knowledge and problem-solving abilities proved vital in helping his colleagues adjust to the uncertainties that arose due to the pandemic. Thank you for your service and sacrifice, Sgt. Owens. You will be greatly missed.”

Co-worker and friends flooded the BSO Facebook page, mourning the loss.

Owens was born in 1972 in New Albany, Ind., and had graduated from Hollywood Hills High School two years before joining the sheriff ’s office. Owens’ father, Sgt. David Owens, also had worked for the Broward Sheriff ’s Office, serving for 34 years in the Department of Detention and retired in 2019.

The younger Owens started as a detention cadet with BSO and was enrolled in the 107th Corrections Academy the following month. He was promoted on Feb. 27, 1992 to deputy and assigned to the Main Jail. In January 1999, Owens was promoted to sergeant.

“Shane was a no nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is supervisor who held people accountable. But more importantly, he taught them how to be the best they could be,” Lt. Col. Tim Langelier, the director of the Department of Detention’s Operations and Administration said in a written statement. “If BSO had a Hall of Fame, Sgt. Shane Owens would be in it.”

In addition to his father, Owens is survived by family and friends. Arrangements for a private ceremony are pending.

The BSO also lost Communications Operator III Nikima Thompson and Deputy Shannon Bennett to COVID-19.