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Florida police are investigating the “suspicious death” of an individual who was conducting an independent investigation into themysterious death of a young motherin 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 ofMichelle 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.
On Sept. 2, 2010, authorities say O’Connell fatally shot herself. That evening,O’Connell was found lying on the bedroom floorof the home she shared with her boyfriend, Jeremy Banks, dead from a gunshot wound to the head. ABC reports the fatal shot came from Banks’ service weapon.
Police say 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 murdered. Banks denies any involvement in O’Connell’s death and investigators say there is no probable cause to believe Banks was involved.
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O’Connell’s relativeshave long maintained she had no history of depressionand would never have left her young daughter behind.
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: people.com
