Circuit Judge Jerry Lockett died September the 10th, 2013 at home. He was born in Cocoa, Florida on February 11, 1942. He moved to Leesburg in 1949 when he was eight years old. He is survived by his wife Ruth Knowles Lockett and daughters Elizabeth Lockett Byrne and son-in-law Jason Byrne of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and Catherine Lockett of Tavares, Florida and mother-in-law Virginia Knowles. He was predeceased by his parents Norwood and Ruth A. Lockett of Leesburg, Florida. Judge Lockett is probably best remembered for his no-nonsense approach in the courtroom and his desire to see justice done which earned him the nick name "Lock 'em up Lockett." Some of his more high profile cases were the seven first degree murder trials that he presided over, including the infamous "Vampire Murders" and the James Duckett case. Judge Lockett attended Leesburg High School through the tenth grade and then graduated from Sewanee Military academy in 1959. He received his B.S. at the United States Naval Academy in 1963. he was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy from 1963 to 1967. During this time he also went to the U.S. Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island in 1964 and served in Vietnam in 1966. He received his law degree from the University of Florida in 1969 and his LL.M in law from Columbia Law School in 1974. Judge Lockett was the Chief Public Defender of the Fifth Judicial circuit from 1981 to 1983. In 1984, he was appointed to the bench and was a circuit judge for the 5th Judicial Circuit from 1984 until 1989. He then resigned and became a partner in Locket and Blair. In 1991, he was re-appointed as a circuit judge. He retired in 2003. He is the only circuit judge in Florida to be appointed as a circuit judge twice by two different governors. Judge Lockett was the Assistant Dean and Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut Law School in Hartford Connecticut from 1971 to 1973. He then went on to become an Associate Professor at the University of Mississippi Law School in Oxford, Mississippi from 1974 until 1977. He was in the general practice of law in Tampa with the Holland and Knight Law Firm for several years, and also in the general practice of law for several years when he moved back to Leesburg in 1977. Judge Lockett was active in many organizations in Lake County. He was a founding member of the Leesburg Girls' Soccer Club and the Boys and Girls Club of Lake and Sumter Counties, and he received the Man and Youth Award in 1986. He was also a board member of the Silver Lake Country Club, a member of the noontime Kiwanis and Lake County Bar Association.
(Obituary from Beyers Funeral Home, Leesburg, FL.)