TAMPA, Fla. (Court TV) — A Florida woman accused of killing two of her ex-lovers on the same day could face a steep sentence as prosecutors announced they are seeking the death penalty in her case.
Susan Avalon appears in court. (Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office)
Susan Avalon, 51, is charged with murder in two counties after allegedly killing two of her exes on Dec. 17, 2025. Prosecutors say Avalon shot and killed Timothy Flecher, 55, at 12:40 p.m. in Hillsborough County before she drove to Manatee County and killed David Scott, 54.
On Tuesday, prosecutors in Hillsborough County announced they plan to seek the death penalty in Flecher’s death. In a news release, the state attorney said aggravators they identified in the case include “that this crime was committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner, that it was especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, that it occurred during the commission of a burglary, and that the defendant was involved in a contemporaneous violent felony.”
Hillsborough County detectives said they received a 911 call from Flecher’s phone and “sounds consistent with possible gunshots” could be heard on the line, but nobody spoke and the call was ended. When dispatchers called back, a woman picked up and “advised the call taker that she was exercising and just hit the button.”
Deputies in Manatee County received a 911 call at 2:55 p.m. reporting a shooting in Bradenton. Officers who responded found Scott with a gunshot wound to the torso. He said he answered a knock at the door and was shot by “a person wearing a gray sweatshirt, mask, and holding a ‘Panera’ bag.” A spilled cup of broccoli cheddar soup in a Panera container and two 9mm shell casings were found inside the victim’s entryway.
When officers asked who could have shot him, he answered, “Possibly my ex-wife, Susan.” Scott’s 15-year-old daughter was home at the time of the shooting and told officers that her mother, “Susan,” may have been involved. The teen also told police that she saw a silver Honda Odyssey outside of their home in the moments before the shooting.
When deputies went to the address listed on the registration for Avalon’s 2015 silver Honda Odyssey, they found her cleaning the front driver’s interior with disinfectant spray. Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said that when deputies told Avalon they were there to speak with her about her ex-husband, she responded, “Which one?” Police then conducted a welfare check at Flecher’s home. They found the glass of his back door shattered and the victim inside dead from a gunshot wound. Prosecutors said “several pieces of evidence” found at the home connect Avalon to the killing.
While Hillsborough County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Avalon if she is convicted of first-degree murder there, the defendant faces a separate trial in Manatee County. There, she is charged with second-degree murder, which does not allow for a potential death sentence under Florida law.
Avalon is due back in Hillsborough County court for a status hearing on July 9. She has a case management hearing in Manatee County on July 30. No trial dates have been set in either case.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of victim Timothy Flecher’s name.
