Polk County Sheriff’s Office Press Release
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office Traffic Homicide Unit investigated a vehicle versus motorcycle traffic fatality last evening in north Lakeland, Friday, August 23, 2024, around 6:20 p.m. The driver of a black 2001 Mustang, 33-year-old Shannon Lally of Polk City, had just picked up her daughter at the school bus stop on Melody Lane at the intersection with Deen Still Road. Lally made a U-turn in the intersection to go the other way on Melody Lane to her home when a 2009 Ducati motorcycle that was heading west on Deen Still crashed into her. Lally told deputies she looked both ways before making the U-turn and did not see any oncoming traffic.
The motorcyclist, 44-year-old Michael Goodman of Mulberry, suffered significant injuries, to which he succumbed after being transported to the hospital. Nobody in the Mustang was injured.
