Police Probing ‘Suspicious’ Death of Person Investigating Fla. Mom’s Murder Mystery

Florida police are investigating the “suspicious death” of an individual who was conducting an independent investigation into the mysterious death of a young mother in 2010, PEOPLE confirms.

The unnamed victim was found Thursday morning fatally shot in a St. Augustine condo, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said at a news conference later that day.

The victim was in the middle of an investigation into the death of Michelle O’Connell, a 24-year-old Florida mother whose sudden death was ruled a suicide over the objections of her family.

Before dying, the victim had requested to view public records regarding O’Connell’s case. It’s unclear how the victim knew O’Connell, but her family told ABC News they were devastated by the news.

On Sept. 2, 2010, authorities say O’Connell fatally shot herself. That evening, O’Connell was found lying on the bedroom floor of the home she shared with her boyfriend, Jeremy Banks, dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

Banks, a local sheriff’s deputy, found her and called 911.

Two days after O’Connell died, St. Johns County Medical Examiner Dr. Frederick Hobin ruled her manner of death a suicide, though he later reclassified it as a homicide. A special prosecutor’s investigator found no evidence of homicide, however, and the case was closed in March 2012 as a suicide.

But O’Connell’s family believed she was killed by Banks. Banks denies any involvement in O’Connell’s death and investigators say there is no probable cause to believe Banks was involved.

• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. 

O’Connell’s relatives have long maintained she had no history of depression and would never have left her young daughter behind.

Her friends have told PEOPLE she was planning to leave Banks before she died, though his attorney has long maintained she killed herself, saying the same conclusion has been drawn by “three separate state attorneys.”

Speaking to PEOPLE in 2016, O’Connell’s mother, Patty, said her family will never stop investigating the case.

“Our family is not going to be quiet,” she said.

On Thursday, because the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office handled O’Connell’s case, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office was asked to handle the death investigation to avoid a potential conflict of interest.

Putnam County authorities say there is no threat to the local community. Anyone with information is urged to call the sheriff’s office at (386) 329-0800. 

Source: Read Full Article