Boyfriend tells Sheriff’s Office personnel that couple was ‘coming off of fentanyl’ when woman shot herself
A 32-year-old Sarasota woman appeared to have shot herself in her home late in the morning of Saturday, Oct. 18, a Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office report says.
Her boyfriend told a deputy that he and the victim “had been ‘coming off of Fentanyl’ ” when the incident occurred, the agency’s report noted.
A Sheriff’s Office lieutenant had issued an advisory to the news media on Oct. 18, announcing that the agency was investigating the death of a person at a home in the 3600 block of Kingston Boulevard in Sarasota. The incident did not appear to entail any threat to the public, the advisory pointed out.
A map shows that Kingston Boulevard is part of Palmer Ranch. The street connects to Beneva Road, south of Clark Road.
After receiving a copy of the official report from the Sheriff’s Office, in response to a public records request, The Sarasota News Leader learned that at 10:38 a.m. on Oct. 18, a man called 911 to say that his girlfriend “had just shot herself.” The man added that “he believed she was beyond help, and the gun was still in her hand.”
The report identified the woman as Ashley Nicole Griffin of 3609 Kingston Boulevard.
Sarasota County Property Appraiser Bill Furst’s records show that Griffin had owned the residence through a trust since June 2014. The sale price of the house was $300,000.
The deputy who wrote the report narrative noted that when he arrived at the scene, the caller — identified as Garth Brett Anderson, 33, of the same address as Griffin — “was wearing only a white towel wrapped around himself” when he admitted the deputy to the single-family residence. Anderson told the deputy he had just taken a shower, the report added.
“The residence was in complete disarray,” the report noted, “with broken glass, drug paraphernalia, needles, evidence of drug use, as well as printout of prescription labels all over the living room floor.”
The deputy found Griffin’s body in a bedroom in the southeast corner of the home, the report said. “Within the room were additional drug paraphernalia items, broken glass and glass pipes, a stack of fake $100 bills, and numerous clothes and other items scattered across the floor,” the report pointed out.
“The victim was on the bed, partly covered with a blanket, [lying] on her on her back. A small semi auto handgun was in the victim’s right hand, which was turned around, with her thumb in the trigger guard. Blood was present on the victim’s face and nose area, and as I checked the victim’s neck for a pulse, the victim’s body was cool to the touch, and had evidence of rigor mortis present,” the deputy wrote in the narrative.
The handgun was a Ruger LC9-S, the report added; 9mm bullets were in the chamber. A Sheriff’s Office crime scene tech retrieved the gun later for processing, the report pointed out.
“Anderson stated he had just found her,” the report continued. “[A]fter further questions, he added he had not heard any shot being fired, but claimed he spoke to the victim around [7 a.m. that day].”
When the deputy asked Anderson whether he was sure of the time, or whether “it was possible” the shooting took place the previous night or earlier than 7 a.m., “Anderson maintained he had last spoken to the victim around [7 a.m.].” He again told the deputy that he and Griffin were “coming off of Fentanyl,” the report pointed out.
“At the request of the Sarasota County Fire Department,” the report continued, “Anderson willingly went with [paramedics] to Sarasota Memorial [Hospital because of] the withdrawal symptoms he [was exhibiting]. While at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Anderson still had the white towel with him which he had been wrapped in,” the report said.
“As he was in a patient room within the ER,” the report noted, “it was observed he had been attempting to conceal something below the towel.” A paramedic and a second deputy, who both were present, “discovered he had been using the victim’s phone, and [he] became irate when the phone was taken from him,” the report pointed out. “Anderson became combative, and was later sedated by the hospital staff, at which time he was put into protective custody by the hospital staff,” the report said.
Further details of the scene
While members of the Sheriff’s Office investigative team were at the scene, the report continued, they checked the master bathroom, “as Anderson had stated to the dispatcher, and to [the deputy who wrote the narrative that] he had just gotten out of the shower when he discovered the victim.” The report said that the Sheriff’s Office personnel found “the shower was completely dry,” though the bathtub was full of water, and soap particles were floating on the water’s surface, the report added.
Further, “Water was observed on the steps which went up to the bathtub,” the report continued, and “water had pooled on the floor near the steps.”
The report added, “Clothing articles littered the floor of the residence, some of which had flies actively swarming around. Numerous items used as drug paraphernalia were also observed, as well as broken glass pipes, needles, and broken mirrors.”
Then the report noted, “Items taken from Anderson while he was at Sarasota Memorial were collected and transferred to [the crime scene tech who was on the scene at the residence].”
About 4:15 p.m., the report added, the driver of a vehicle pulled over in front of the house to ask what was taking place. The driver said she lived on the next street over, behind the residence, the report continued. She heard a gunshot about 7:30 a.m. that day, the driver said, and it had seemed to come from the victim’s house.
As of the time the report was written, it noted that “no additional actions were taken on scene.” However, it did point out that night shift patrol personnel would remain there “until such time as the residence could be secured.”
No further information was provided in the report.
A News Leader check of the records maintained by Sarasota County Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller Karen Rushing and her staff found that the victim, Griffin, had been charged with numerous traffic infractions since November 2012. Among them were eight citations for failing to stop at a steady red light, plus citations for speeding and careless driving.
No drug-related charges were listed.
The News Leader did not find any court records involving Anderson.