TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Michael Troy Hutto, who was accused of fatally shooting an 18-year-old woman inside a Florida hotel, was denied bond twice after being accused of stalking the victim’s friends and coworkers, according to the Lake City Reporter.
Hutto, a millionaire and one of the co-founders of the Salt Life apparel brand, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charge for the October 2020 death of Lora Grace Duncan.
According to First Coast News, Duncan was dating Hutto when she was found shot to death at the Hilton Singer Island Oceanfront hotel. The next day, Hutto was found overdosing in his car at a gas station. He allegedly confessed to killing Duncan, but said it was an accident. He was arrested for manslaughter and freed on a $250,000 bond.
The state later filed a motion to revoke Hutto’s bond after two women accused him of stalking and a judge granted them injunctions for protection against him.
According to the report, Hutto was a member at a gym, where Duncan and the two women worked. The women claimed he had been following them around stores and gas stations and “staring and glaring.”
“I am terrified of Troy,” one wrote in an injunction petition obtained by First Coast. “He is mentally unstable, he is a heavy drug user. Her has a big collection of guns, he keeps them in his car, in his home and backpack. his house, car and backpack. I am afraid of what will happen if I don’t get any protection from Troy.”
She said the last time she spoke to Duncan, he allegedly threatened to kill her.
“Troy took the phone and told me, ‘If you try to make me let you talk to my Gracie again I will kill you,'” she recalled him saying. “About three hours later that day, on Oct. 27, 2020, he shot and killed Grace.”
The petitions were filed in March 2021, and a judge issued temporary injunctions. The restraining orders were issued in October.
When the state filed the motion to revoke his bond, Hutto’s attorney argued his client posed no threat to the public and had not “engaged in any violence, possessed any weapon, or made any threats of violence.” He said the only evidence they had was that Hutto “smiled at a state witness and/or asked a non-state-witness if he knew her,” according to First Coast.
The attorney said he has already agreed to bond conditions of no contact with Duncan’s family.
Judge Cymonie Rowe revoked Hutto’s bond earlier this month, and on Monday morning denied another bond request that included conditions like an ankle monitor.
Hutto is being held at the Palm Beach County Main Detention Center, and will remain there until his trial.
Hutto is the co-founder of the popular Salt Life logo and brand. The company has said he has no affiliation with them since he sold Salt Life in 2013. The business was sold to Delta Apparel for $15 million in cash as well as two promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of $22 million, and an additional payment contingent on certain performance targets being met.