The co-founder of the popular Salt Life brand of ocean-related clothing pleaded guilty this week and was sentenced to 12 years in prison for shooting to death jis 18-year-old girlfriend in a Florida hotel room.
Michael Troy Hutto, 56, contended that he killed 18-year-old Lora Grace Duncan accidentally while they were playing a game, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
But Hutto, who sold his portion of Salt Life in 2013, fled the scene of the October 2020 shooting, and Duncan’s body wasn’t found at the Hilton Singer Island Oceanfront Resort in Riviera Beach until her family requested a wellness check several days later.
Duncan was found dead, in a state of decomposition, on October 29, 2020, with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, lying on the bathroom floor. Officers said they found live rounds on the floor.
Duncan’s father told investigators she had been with her boyfriend — Hutto — and that he suspected Hutto was giving her drugs.
Hutto was found by police 245 miles away — the day before Duncan’s body was found — at a St. Augustine gas station, where he was “twitching, making delusional comments and crying while his eyes were rolling into the back of his head,” police said. He was hospitalized for an overdose, Law and Crime reported. While at the hospital, Hutto admitted to shooting Duncan, who he called Gracie, while they were pretending to shoot at each other with a finger and the gun.
“Mr. Hutto went on to state as Gracie was sitting on the counter inside of the bathroom, he pointed the gun at Gracie, at which time it went off and shot her,” police said in an affidavit. “At that time, Mr. Hutto stated he put the gun in his black Adidas backpack then left the room. Mr. Hutto also stated that he went and got into his 2020 green Dodge and left the hotel and drove until he ran out of gas at a gas station.”
Hutto pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a firearm. He’ll get 79 days off his 12 year sentence for time served.
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[Featured image: Lora Grace Duncan/Handout; Michael Troy Hutto/Palm Beach County Jail]
