MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — The Manatee County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) said a woman is accused of killing two of her ex-husbands on Wednesday in two separate counties.
“It doesn’t get any more brazen than this," said Manatee Sheriff Rick Wells.
Watch report from Mary O'Connell
MCSO detectives identified 51-year-old Susan Avalon as a person of interest in a shooting in Bradenton and said detectives developed probable cause to charge Avalon with murder.
Around 3:00pm Wednesday, MCSO said deputies responded to a home in the 7000 block of Chatum Light Run, where they found a man suffering from a gunshot.
“One of the questions that deputies asked him is who could have done this to you? And he says possibly my ex-wife," said Wells.
MCSO said the 54-year-old man was taken to the hospital for treatment, but died later in the evening.
The investigation led detectives to Avalon, the ex-wife of the victim. She lives in Citrus County.
“She comes out of the house with bleach and cleaning rags, gets into the Silver Odyssey, and begins to wipe down the car," said Wells. "We approach her. Detectives let her know that they are there to speak about her ex-husband. She says which one? We only know of one.”
Through their investigation, Wells said detectives learned Avalon had another ex-husband in Tampa.
"Tampa PD goes into this residence in Tampa," said Wells. "This second ex-husband has also been shot and killed.”
Sheriff Wells said they believe the suspect left Citrus County to Hillsborough County, where he said she killed the first victim, her second ex-husband, then continued to Manatee County, where the Sheriff said she went to her first ex-husband’s home, knocked on the door, and shot him.
“I don’t know why yesterday was the day," said Wells. "We know that she had a current court hearing with our victim in October about child support. She was not paying the child support that she was court-ordered to pay."
Wells said during a press conference on Thursday morning that Avalon is in custody in Citrus County.
Tampa Bay 28 reporter Mary O'Connell knocked on a few doors in the Tampa neighborhood. That's where she met Escarlin Cortorreal, who explained what she heard.
“We heard one gunshot," said Cortorreal. "A couple seconds later, we heard three in a row, and we kind of put the music down. We were like those were gunshots.”
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