ORMOND BEACH, Florida—The female person of interest in last week’s double homicide in Altoona died Friday, just a day after the slayings, according to Ormond Beach Police Department.
Samantha Butler, age unknown, and Roger Myles Gilbert, 35, fled a traffic stop in Ormond Beach shortly before noon Friday and crashed in an Ormond Beach KFC parking lot. Butler was found dead in the white Volvo and Gilbert fled on foot and was captured in a nearby store.
Butler was a person of interest in the deaths of David Thomas Mikell, 34 of Umatilla, and Shane Eugene Clements, 41, of Altoona. The two men were found dead from apparent gunshot wounds after Lake County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to 45918 Pennsylvania Road, Altoona around 9 p.m. Thursday night, LCSO Lt. John Herrell said.
Gilbert is still a person of interest in the killings and is being held in the Volusia County Jail on no bond.
OBPD responded to the 1400 block of Granada Boulevard on a report of a vehicle with a bullet hole in it around 10 a.m. The vehicle was spotted nearly two hours after the initial call and OBPD attempted to stop the Volvo with Alabama tags, according to a press release from OBPD.
The car fled and crashed in the parking lot of KFC, 294 West Granada Boulevard. Gilbert fled on foot and Butler was found in the car unresponsive and pronounced dead on the scene by Ormond Beach Fire Rescue.
“We do not believe Samantha Butler’s death is a result of injuries sustained in the crash,” OBPD said in a press release.
Gilbert fled to a nearby Dollar Tree, hiding first in a back room and then running through the store while grabbing at his waist. Gilbert was tased by officers and found with a Smith & Wesson firearm in his waistband. The gun was later found to be stolen from Mountain Brook, Alabama earlier this month.
Gilbert was arrested for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, carrying a concealed firearm and resisting an officer without violence.
He has not been charged in the deaths of Clements and Mikell at this time, Herrell said.
