Susan Erica Avalon, Manatee County, Florida woman arrested shooting and killing two former husbands in the same day in premeditated coordinated attack.
Florida authorities have arrested a Citrus County woman for allegedly shooting and killing two of her ex husbands, both in the same day.
Susan Erica Avalon, 51, was identified by one of the victims as the ‘potential’ shooter before the man being rushed to hospital only to die from his injuries shortly after, Wednesday afternoon.
According to Manatee County deputies, the 54 year old Bradenton area victim told investigators before dying that someone knocked on his door and shot him when he answered — and that person may have been his ex-wife.
Premeditated and co-ordinated attacks
The victim’s 15-year-old daughter — and Avalon’s biological child — was at home at the time. She didn’t see the shooting, although she heard the gunshots and saw a silver Honda Odyssey driving away.
The Manatee County shooting happened around 3 p.m. in a residential neighborhood. Detectives say Avalon used stolen food from a Panera Bread restaurant as a ruse to get the victim to open his front door.
‘When this victim opens the door, suspect starts to fire immediately,’ a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said, My SunCoast reported.
‘It doesn’t get any more brazen than this,’ Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said addressing press. ‘This is a very active neighborhood. It’s 3 o’clock in the afternoon on Wednesday. Kids are coming home from school. A lot of activity as you can imagine. She didn’t seem to care.’
Wells said that Avalon and the victim had been divorced for 11 years and she owed him $4000 in child support. She faced a December deadline to pay $200 or lose her driver’s license.
The official said, noting that Avalon owned and drove a silver Honda Odyssey.
Manatee County woman admits shooting and killing two ex husbands
After tracking her home, detectives observed Avalon wiping her van with bleach and rags.
It was while approaching the woman, detectives said they were there to speak to her about her ex-husband — only for Avalon to answer, ‘which one?’
Discussing that one of her former husbands was a child abuser, detectives raced to the other husband’s home in Tampa only to find no answer at the door. Upon observing damage to the rear door, detectives forced entry into the home only to find the second husband deceased. Also a victim of gun violence.
‘We believe she knew what she was doing,’ Wells said. ‘It was planned.’
Avalon’s live-in boyfriend told detectives she had recently tracked down the Manatee victim’s address. He said she also told him the day before the shootings that she loved him ‘in case something happens to her.’
Both shootings linked to child custody cases involving both husbands
Records show Avalon was arrested on a child abuse charge in Virginia in 2004. Child abuse cases in Tampa and Pasco County were later dropped. Investigators say those cases were tied to custody disputes with her ex-husbands.
Avalon currently faces a second-degree murder charge in Manatee County. Prosecutors say they plan to seek a first-degree murder charge and the death penalty. Tampa authorities are running a separate homicide investigation tied to the second victim.
Investigators say the shootings affects about five children from both marriages.
Avalon remains in custody in Citrus County. The murder weapon has not been found, and detectives are still going through her vehicle for evidence. Officials have yet to identify the victims.
