Posted on 12/19/2025 8:03:22 AM PST by crusty old prospector
BRADENTON, Fla. (WWSB) - A Citrus County woman accused of killing both of her ex-husbands in separate shootings on the same day is now at the center of coordinated homicide investigations in two Florida counties.
Investigators say 48-year-old Susan Erica Avalon shot and killed an ex-husband in Manatee County Wednesday afternoon, then another ex-husband in Tampa.
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.
Surveillance video shows Avalon walking into a Panera about a mile and a half from the scene, taking food from a delivery pickup shelf without paying, then heading to the victim’s home, investigators said.
License plate readers tracked her silver Honda Odyssey from Citrus County to Hillsborough County, across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge into Manatee County, and back home after the shootings, according to investigators.
ourt records show Avalon and the Manatee County victim had been divorced for about 11 years, with long-running custody disputes and about $4,000 in unpaid child support. She faced a December deadline to pay $200 or lose her driver’s license.
Neighbors in Bradenton remember Avalon’s ex-husband as a kind and considerate neighbor.
“I met him about a year and a half ago, he walks every morning from his house down to our town park. Every morning when he is walking by we say hello” Ronald Andriano said.
“We talked a little bit, he was such a nice man. his family, his daughters, his son, all nice. His two dogs, just a very gentle, nice family” he added.
When detectives arrived at Avalon’s Citrus County home, they found her cleaning the minivan with bleach and rags. During questioning, when told they needed to talk about her ex-husband, Avalon replied, “Which one?”
That answer led investigators to ask Tampa Police to conduct a welfare check on her other ex-husband, who lived in the 1200 block of E. Frierson Avenue, Wednesday night.
Officers found an adult man inside the home dead from multiple gunshot wounds, with damage to a rear door that appeared to show forced entry, authorities said.
Tampa Police said in a news release they believe that case is related to the Manatee County homicide investigation. Detectives also believe the shooter and victim were known to one another.
Manatee County homicide detectives say they are working “in coordination with the Tampa Police Department” and have identified credible evidence indicating the cases are related. Both agencies are working with the State Attorney’s Office to determine what charges, if any, apply in the Tampa case.
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.”
He told investigators that when Avalon came home after the shootings, she got into the shower still wearing the same gray sweatshirt seen in the surveillance video.
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 case affects about five children from both marriages.
Sheriff Rick Wells told ABC7 this case is a first of its kind for him.
“Nothing like this, nothing that is really domestic in nature where a husband or wife decides they want to end the life of someone they once loved. Nothing like this,” he said.
I think she looks nice. Just misunderstood.
So ... She’s available?
She seems nice.
Laz...uh... never mind
Not defending her, but I can see how losing her kids could make a woman crazy. And this one is obviously crazy as a loon.
Crud, we have friends there and have enjoyed the area.
It is not that far to drive down for conjugal visits from Georgia. He can dooo it!
That’s quite a bit of pissed off.
I have a friend in Bradenton.
Mebber her Dr just told her some bad news. So, she decided to even some scores before departure.
Better give her a suit like Steve Buscemi in “Con Air”
Florida will stick a needle in her.
Crazy eyes
Hahaha, was thinking the same thing
My daughter and her family live there...........
I’m guessing several men that slept with her are sighing a bit of relief today...
Time to reopen the asylums.
Our friends had installed a good enough new roof a few years back that they rode out the last big hit the area got. No damage, but lots of stuff in the streets.
Nice place. This sort of crazy person is not helpful.
We do like some restaurants nearby and look forward to catching them again.
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