Hutto admitted to the shooting of his 18-year-old girlfriend in a Florida hotel room. Photos: (L)Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office//(R)Facebook
Michael Hutto, a co-founder of the apparel company Salt Life, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the shooting death of his girlfriend in 2020. Lora Grace Duncan, the victim, was only 18 years old at the time.
In 2003, Hutto and a group of friends started Salt Life Apparel. The brand is aimed at ocean-goers, including surfers and fishermen. The Salt Life team consists of pro fishermen, pro surfers, pro stand-up paddlers, pro divers, NASCAR drivers, and country music singers.
According to reports, Hutto was the one who named the brand. A decade later, Hutto and the other co-founders sold Salt Life to Delta Apparel Inc. for a reported $40 million and parted ways with the company. Now, Salt Life sponsors surfers like Tim Curran and Colin McPhillips.
Hutto pleaded guilty on Thursday to the shooting of Duncan at the Hilton Singer Island resort in Florida in October, 2020. He said that it was an accident that occurred during a “mock shooting game.”
He fled the scene and was later arrested in Jacksonville, Florida, nearly 300 miles away. Duncan’s body was found after her father called officials and requested a welfare check when he hadn’t heard from her. The New York Post reported that Mr. Duncan used an app to trace his daughter’s phone to the hotel. When police showed up, they discovered “her blood-soaked, decomposing body with a gunshot wound to the stomach.”
Hutto, who had rented the room under his name, left his wallet and identification at the scene of the crime. According to an affidavit, Hutto was taken to a hospital a day before his girlfriend was found dead.
“The businessman was reported to have been ‘twitching, making delusional comments and crying while his eyes were rolling into the back of his head,'” the New York Post reported. “When detectives questioned Hutto about his girlfriend, the then-54-year-old man was quoted as telling them, ‘Oh, my God, I think I hurt my Gracie,’ and then burst into tears.”
Hutto eventually told police that he was going to the Florida Keys with Duncan to visit friends. They stopped at the Hilton along the way. After spending the day on the beach, they returned to their room, where the shooting occurred. After shooting her, he left the hotel with the weapon and drove until his truck ran out of fuel.
Hutto pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a firearm.
