Death by Cop 2021-2025
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Samantha H. Butler
Age : 29
Gender : Female
Race : White
Date : 08/26/2022
Location : KFC parking lot, 294 West Granada Boulevard
City : Ormond Beach
County : Volusia
State : Florida
Agency : Ormond Beach Police Department
Officer(s) :Unknown
Cause of Death : Suicide
Event : Suicide under police duress
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :
On 08/26/2022, 29-year-old Samantha H. Butler died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after fleeing an Ormond Beach Police Department traffic stop and crashing in the parking lot of a KFC at 294 West Granada Boulevard. Butler and her passenger were being sought as people of interest in the shooting deaths of two men in Lake County the previous evening. Ormond Beach police later determined that Butler shot herself after the crash.
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The underlying homicide investigation began after Lake County sheriff's deputies responded at approximately 9 p.m. on 08/25/2022 to Pennsylvania Road in Altoona. Deputies found 34-year-old David Thomas Mikell of Umatilla and 41-year-old Shane Eugene Clements of Altoona shot to death. Investigators said the killings did not appear random. Butler and 35-year-old Roger Myles Gilbert of Alabama were subsequently identified as people of interest.
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At approximately 9:54 a.m. the following morning, Ormond Beach officers responded to the 1400 block of West Granada Boulevard after receiving a report of a vehicle with a bullet hole in it. During that investigation, police identified a possible vehicle connected to the incident and issued a BOLO.
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At approximately 11:42 a.m., an Ormond Beach officer located the vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. According to the department's official account, the vehicle drove away before the officer made contact with Butler or Gilbert. Police followed the vehicle, which crashed a short time later in the KFC parking lot at 294 West Granada Boulevard.
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Gilbert fled from the crashed vehicle on foot and entered the nearby Dollar Tree at 274 West Granada Boulevard, where police located and arrested him. Officers found Butler unresponsive in the driver's seat. Ormond Beach Fire Rescue responded, and Butler was pronounced dead at approximately 12:30 p.m.
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Police initially stated that Butler's death did not appear to have resulted from injuries sustained in the crash. On 09/13/2022, Ormond Beach Police Department released the result of its death investigation, stating that Butler died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and that she shot herself after the vehicle crashed.
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The timing is significant to the classification of Butler's death. The fatal gunshot did not precede the police encounter and was not caused by the collision. It occurred after police attempted to stop the vehicle, Butler drove away, police followed, and the vehicle crashed. Her death therefore falls within the database category of suicide under police duress.
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Butler was born on 10/08/1992 and was from Alabama. Police identified her as Samantha H. Butler. The official Ormond Beach Police Department releases do not establish that Butler had been charged with either Lake County homicide before her death; she and Gilbert were described as people of interest in that investigation.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
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The Ormond Beach Police Department officer or officers directly involved in the attempted traffic stop and subsequent response were not identified in the public records located.
SOURCE LINKS :
https://www.ormondbeach.org/Archive/ViewFile/Item/9982
https://www.ormondbeach.org/Archive/ViewFile/Item/9963
https://ormondbeach.org/Archive/ViewFile/Item/9981
https://www.wftv.com/news/local/lake-county/2-men-shot-death-altoona/73QFQ346AFA67CWAHGG72L3C6U/
