Florida teenager dies – and police suspect foul play

A Florida teenager died in mysterious circumstances after a night out with friends earlier this month – and police are now investigating the case as a possible homicide.

Ava Hulett, 19, was hanging out at Pelican Larry's Raw Bar and Grill in Fort Myers in the early morning hours of June 15 when something went wrong.

The Lee County Sheriff's Department said an ambulance was called after Hulett suffered a “medical incident” and was taken to the hospital.

Details of what happened at Pelican Larry's Raw Bar have not been released, but Hulett was not admitted to the hospital, authorities said.

She was released a few hours later and her mother picked her up and took her to the family's home in Estero.

But Hulett quickly took a turn for the worse.

Around 12:20 p.m., Hulett's mother found the teen unconscious, according to an incident report from the Lee County Sheriff's Office.

She called 911 while Hulett's father performed CPR. When emergency services arrived, they pronounced him dead on the spot.

The Lee County Sheriff's Office said Hulett's death was under investigation as a possible homicide, but authorities declined to release the cause or manner of death.

Detectives have also not named any possible suspects, but emphasize that “at this time, there is no indication that the company's personnel or its operations have caused any harm to their customers.”

This is the second time the Hulett family has faced the unimaginable loss of a child.

In 2019, Ava's brother Bradley was accidentally shot and killed. According to a police report, Bradley and three friends were hanging out at one of the boys' houses when they picked the lock to his parents' bedroom.

The boys found a gun belonging to their father, a Tampa police detective, and began playing with it, according to the report.

Bradley, 15, was shot and killed. The friend who pulled the trigger was later charged with involuntary manslaughter and was placed on pretrial diversion to have his record expunged.

The police officer was punished for keeping the weapon in a dangerous condition.

Anthony Rickman, a Tampa attorney representing the family, told the Tampa Bay Times that the family is reeling from the loss of Ava — while still dealing with Bradley's death.

“No parent should ever outlive their children,” Rickman says, “and these two parents outlive two of their children. It's just horrible that they're going through this again. »

The investigation into Ava's death is ongoing.