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Prosecutors want bond revoked for Salt Life co-founder charged in Lake City 18-year-old’s death

Judge has not ruled on motion to revoke Michael Troy Hutto’s bond

The manslaughter case involving a co-founder of the popular Salt Life brand took another turn Monday.

On Monday, Michael Troy Hutto, who is charged with manslaughter in the 2020 death of 18-year-old Grace Duncan, had a hearing via Zoom where the state asked for his bond to be revoked.

Prosecutors say they have evidence Hutto has been stalking witnesses. They also argue that a previous injunction had been filed against him.

Hutto’s attorney dismissed the injunction as irrelevant, saying that Hutto was never involved in a hearing and that there has been no change to the initial filing. The lawyer also claims that Hutto doesn’t pose a danger to the community.

Police say they found Duncan, of Lake City, shot to death in October 2020 inside a South Florida hotel room she was sharing with Hutto in Riviera Beach. Duncan’s parents had asked police to find their daughter, and they were concerned about drug use and that Hutto may have been influencing her.

Investigators say they determined that Duncan left her parent’s home in Columbia County on Oct. 25. She told them she went to Daytona with Hutto and they were working on starting a business together.

Court records show that the next day, Hutto and Duncan checked into the Hilton Singer Island Hotel in Riviera Beach.

By Oct. 29, according to court records, Duncan’s parents told police they couldn’t reach her and asked for a welfare check. They told investigators that they were concerned about drug use, and that Hutto may have been influencing Duncan.

Officers responding knocked on the room’s door, and when no one answered, asked an employee to open the door. They did and found Duncan’s body in the bathroom.

The judge has not ruled on Monday’s motion to revoke bond.

In January of this year, Hutto’s attorney asked for all the evidence from the hotel room thrown out, saying officers illegally entered and searched the room.


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