FL Woman Fatally Shot Her 2 Ex-Husbands On Same Day: Sheriff

BRADENTON, FL — A Citrus County woman is accused of fatally shooting her two ex-husbands — one in Tampa, the other in Bradenton — on Wednesday, authorities said.

Susan Avalon, 51, was arrested at her home that same day and charged with murder, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said.

Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said during a Thursday news conference that he will work with the state attorney’s office to seek the death penalty for Avalon.

“She knew what she was doing; it was planned,” he said, adding that the case is “different, to say the least. This is bizarre.”

The Tampa Police Department will conduct a separate investigation, Wells said, noting that he’s not sure what charges that department might file against Avalon.

Patch has reached out to Tampa police. This story will be updated when the department responds.

When Manatee County deputies responded to reports of a shooting at a home in the 7000 block of Chatum Light Run just before 3 p.m., they found the victim with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

The shooter, later identified as Avalon, walked up to the door holding a bag of food from Panera Bread, including broccoli soup, and shot the victim after he opened the door, Wells said.

Prior to going to the home, Avalon grabbed someone else’s order from the delivery section of a nearby Panera and “decides this is going to be her way to the front door,” the sheriff said.

The victim, whose name isn’t being released under Marsy’s Law, was still alert and speaking to detectives when they got to his home.

When deputies asked if he knew who might have shot him, he said, “Possibly my ex-wife,” according to Wells.

The couple had been divorced for 11 years, but had ongoing custody and child support issues. Avalon owed him $4,000 in child support, the sheriff said.

Their 15-year-old daughter, who was the only other person home at the time of the shooting, spotted a person in a gray sweatshirt and a surgical mask getting into a Silver Honda Odyssey and driving away after the shooting.

Detectives quickly learned that was the same make and model as the car that Avalon owns.

License plate readers tracked her driving over the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and in Hernando County on the way back to her Citrus County home.

When Manatee County detectives got to her home, they saw Avalon wipe down her car with bleach and cleaning rags.

They told her that they were there to speak with her about her ex-husband, and she responded, “Which one,” according to Wells.

As she made comments about her ex, alleging that he was a child abuser and molester, investigators realized she was talking about another ex-husband who lived in Tampa, the sheriff said.

After MCSO detectives asked Tampa police to check on Avalon’s second ex-husband, officers found him shot to death inside his home, which had damage to the back door, Wells said.

Avalon's live-in boyfriend told Manatee County detectives that she had recently found her first ex-husband’s Bradenton address and when she returned home on Wednesday, wearing a gray sweatshirt, she got in the shower with her clothes on, the sheriff said. He also said that when she returned, she made “derogatory comments” about both exes.

Laying out a timeline for the day, detectives believe that Avalon left her Citrus County home Wednesday morning for Tampa, where she shot and killed her most recent ex-husband, Wells said.

Then, she took the Sunshine Skyway Bridge into Manatee County, stopping at the Panera Bread before going to her first ex-husband’s home, knocking on his front door, and fatally shooting him, the sheriff said. “We don’t know why yesterday was the day she decided to take this action.”

Wells added, referring to the Bradenton shooting, “It doesn’t get any more brazen than this. This is a very active neighborhood, 3 o’clock in the afternoon on a Wednesday; kids coming home from school; a lot of activity, as you could imagine, in that area. She didn’t seem to care.”

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