On September 2, 2010, 24-year-old Michelle O'Connell was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head inside the St. Augustine, Florida, home of her boyfriend, Jeremy Banks, who was a deputy with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office.
At the time of her death, O'Connell was actively packing her belongings to end her relationship with Banks.
The fatal shot was fired from Banks' department-issued service weapon.

Banks called 911, claiming that O'Connell had shot herself.
Within hours, the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office concluded that the death was a suicide—a ruling supported by the initial medical examiner's autopsy.

However, the response and initial investigation faced severe criticism for immediate conflicts of interest and massive protocol breaches:

-Banks was treated as a grieving colleague rather than a potential suspect.

-Forensic evidence was left untested, the surrounding neighborhood was not canvassed for hours, and O’Connell’s cell phone records were ignored.

-The gun was found on O'Connell's left side, even though she was right-handed.

O’Connell’s family vehemently rejected the ruling that it was a suicide, pointing to a history of domestic abuse and the fact that she was a devoted young mother who had just secured a full-time promotion.

Under heavy public pressure, Florida Governor Rick Scott appointed a special prosecutor, and Rusty Rodgers, an investigator with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), was brought in to reinvestigate.
Rodgers discovered critical discrepancies:

-Multiple neighbors reported hearing a woman screaming for help right before gunshots were fired.

-Forensic reconstructions cast doubt on whether O’Connell could have physically shot herself in that manner.

-The medical examiner initially agreed to change the manner of death to homicide, though the change was later blocked from being officially recorded.

Despite Rodgers' findings, a special prosecutor ultimately determined that there was insufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against Banks, and the case was closed.

In 2016, the O’Connell family had her body exhumed for a third, independent autopsy conducted by forensic pathologist Dr. William Anderson.
Anderson found that O’Connell’s jaw had suffered a severe linear fracture before the gun was fired, suggesting she had been beaten, and that her tongue had been pushed back into her throat, indicating the gun had been violently forced into her mouth.

Jeremy Banks maintained his innocence throughout.
He filed a civil rights lawsuit against FDLE Agent Rusty Rodgers, claiming Rodgers had fabricated evidence to target him.
A judge ultimately dismissed Banks’ lawsuit, ruling that Rodgers had valid probable cause to investigate Banks for homicide.

The case took another dark turn in 2019 when Eli Washtock, a private citizen and independent investigator who spent years digging into O’Connell’s death on behalf of her family, was found shot to death in his own home.
While the family suspected Washtock was assassinated for getting too close to the truth, local law enforcement stated that Banks was not a suspect in that murder.

To this day, Jeremy Banks has never been charged with a crime and has continued his career in law enforcement, while the O’Connell family continues to advocate for justice and legislative changes regarding how police departments handle investigations into their own officers.