Florida deputy kills lover and fellow cop before shooting himself in murder-suicide
Trigger Warning: This article includes content related to suicide
ST AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA: Love and romance seek no boundaries! Indeed, these relations can sometimes prove 'tragic' too. One such incident comes from Florida where a detective and another deputy were found dead of a suspected murder-suicide incident, inside a vacation rental in St. Augustine on Saturday, January 29. Both deputies were found dead with gunshot wounds. The two Florida deputies were in a romantic relationship and had an argument before one of the detectives shot the other and killed himself inside the rented vacay house. It was later known that both the deputies were actually subordinates working in the same office.
Recently, there was a similar case when the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office on January 3, 2022, confirmed the tragic death of two deputies - Clayton Osteen and Victoria Pacheco. As we reported at the time, the couple died by suicide within days of each other, orphaning their one-month-old infant. Back in 2018, there was another case of a Florida deputy who murdered his family. Terry Strawn, 58, a veteran of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office who was once named 'officer of the year', used his service handguns to carry out the triple murder-suicide, killing his wife, daughter and granddaughter. In 2021, David Motz, a Florida deputy who harassed his ex daily for a year was charged after he threatened to rape and murder her.
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The two Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies were on vacation in St. Augustine along with their subordinates. One deputy was identified as Detective Daniel Leyden and the identity of the other deputy is kept undisclosed.
The investigation on the Saturday night's murder- suicide is being carried out by St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and the preliminary investigation revealed that Detective Daniel Leyden shot and killed his partner before turning the gun on himself. Authorities claim that he was the sole shooter and the one who started the argument with his deputy. Detective Leyden worked in the criminal investigations division and the victim whose name has not been released is also a deputy, and was assigned to Uniform Patrol District III.
The shooting happened around 10 pm, Jan 29 night at a vacation rental in the 5300 block of A1A South in the resort town on the Atlantic coast about 100 miles north of Orlando. Officials claim that this is an isolated situation and there is no threat to the general public by the incident. They also mourned the loss of their two deputies and extended their support to the bereaved families.
The motive and details of the shooting are still unclear and are under investigation. The HSCO support team is in touch with immediate colleagues of both the deputies involved and available as a resource to all works. The other officers on the vacay are being interrogated under similar circumstances and the updates on the case is expected to be unveiled very soon. MEAWW will keep you posted.
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or suicidepreventionlifeline.org.