After fatally killing his young girlfriend and leaving her body to rot in a Florida hotel, the co-founder of Salt Life Beach Clothing received a 12-year prison term.
In October 2020, 56-year-old Michael Hutto killed 18-year-old Lora Grace Duncan in their hotel room at the Hilton Singer Island resort.
According to WPTV, Hutto claimed he unintentionally shot Duncan during a “play gun fight.”
Hutto entered a plea of guilty to manslaughter on Thursday in a Palm Beach courtroom and was given a 12-year jail term with 79 days of credit for time already served.
More than three years after the murder, Hutto, who founded the Salt Life apparel line with pals in 2003, showed up in court on Thursday for the sentencing.
A probable cause affidavit states that Duncan’s body was discovered at the Palm Beach hotel in 2020 after her father used an app to track her cell phone to the Hilton hotel after not hearing from her for two days.
When he phoned the police to check on his welfare, they arrived and discovered her dead body inside the room, covered in blood and suffering from a gunshot wound to the stomach.
Police reported that a distinct smell of decomposition was coming from the hallway when patrol units arrived. Blood was all over the body, and live rounds were seen on the ground.
Hutto, then 54 years old, who had leased the room but had forgotten to take his wallet and ID, ran away from the horrific scene. In his hometown of Jacksonville, he was discovered at a hospital.
He had sought assistance at a gas station the day before Duncan’s body was discovered and had been admitted to the hospital.
According to the arrest report, witnesses reported that he was “twitching, making hallucinatory comments, and sobbing while his eyes were rolling into the back of his head.”
Hutto reportedly broke down in tears when questioned about his girlfriend, saying, “Oh, my God, I think I injured my Gracie.”
According to Hutto’s statement to the authorities, he and Duncan had stopped at the motel en route to see friends in the Florida Keys.
He had said that they were “playing inside the hotel room like they were firing with their finger and a gun.”
Hutto reported to the police that Duncan inadvertently fired the revolver while pointing it at her as she was seated on the restroom counter.
After leaving Duncan’s body in the room, he allegedly put the gun in his black Adidas backpack before fleeing the scene in his 2020 green Dodge and continuing to drive until he ran out of petrol.
According to the arrest report, Duncan’s father eventually admitted to police that Hutto and his daughter were dating and that she had “sounded out of character” in their last conversation.
He continued by saying that he thought Hutto had given his daughter medication and kept her unconscious.
Boaters, surfers, and fishermen were the target market for Hutto’s Salt Life company. In 2013, he sold the company for just under $40 million.
After the murder, Salt Life said in a statement that Hutto had stopped working there after he and his partners sold the company.
»56 years old founder of salt life, sentenced to 12 year imprisonment for killing girlfriend«