A Florida woman is charged with shooting her boyfriend to death early Saturday morning and claiming it was self-defense.
Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies were called to the home on Big Coppitt Key before 3 a.m. Saturday when they got a call from the couple’s roommate saying Tyler Nulisch, 30, “is in bad shape. He’s hurt real bad and there’s a lot of blood,” according to an arrest affidavit obtained by Keys Weekly.
Nulisch was found on the living room floor with a bullet wound in his lower back, the affidavit said. Deputies also saw a 9 mm Smith & Wesson handgun along with a spent shell casing on the floor.
Nulisch was unconscious but breathing when deputies arrived. He was taken to Lower Keys Medical Center, but died about an hour later.
The roommate told investigators that he, Nulisch and his girlfriend, 33-year-old Brittany Holbrook had been drinking earlier and that all three went to bed before he was awakened by a scream. He ran to the living room and found Nulisch on the floor bleeding. When asked what happened, Nulisch reportedly said, “The b**** shot me in the back!”
Holbrook told detectives “there was a gap in her memory.” She remembered going to bed, but the next thing she recalled was being in the living room holding her boyfriend, who was covered in blood. In a later interview, she said she remembered Nulisch attacking her, holding her against the wall and choking her. Police, however, said she showed no visible signs of the choking.
“Holbrook stated she punched and scratched Nulisch,” the affidavit said. “Bruising on several knuckles on her right hand were observed. Holbrook stated she believed Nulisch was attempting to kill her. She continued to claim there was a gap in her memory and she did not remember how she was able to get away from Nulisch. Holbrook stated she had not fired a gun since moving from Stuart, Florida over nine months ago.”
Holbrook was charged with murder and booked into the Monroe County Jail.
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[Featured image: Brittany Holbrook/Monroe County Sheriff’s Office]
