A 32-year-old Florida woman was jailed on a first-degree murder charge after deputies said she shot her boyfriend while he slept, tried to cut up his body in a bathtub and buried his remains in several places in the yard of their rural home.
The arrest of Ashley Otero Averett capped several days of growing concern around a home on Creek Haven Road in Fountain, a small community in Bay County north of Panama City. Investigators said the case moved from a missing-person inquiry to a homicide after Joseph Martin Eiler, 38, vanished, failed to report to work and family members began telling deputies that Averett had acted strangely, blocked access to parts of the home and later admitted to the killing. By Wednesday, Averett remained in the Bay County Jail without bond, while authorities had not publicly announced her next court date.
According to sheriff documents and local television reports, Eiler was reported missing on Saturday, March 14, after relatives said they had not seen him since the early morning hours of Thursday, March 12. His father, who lived on the same property, told investigators he heard Eiler and Averett arguing at about 4 a.m. that day inside the home. In the affidavit summarized by news outlets, the father said he heard his son cry out and later saw him washing his face while saying Averett had struck him with a flashlight. He also told deputies that, later that morning, he heard what he believed were gunshots coming from the residence. When deputies first spoke with Averett, investigators said, she told them that after the argument Eiler left with an unknown friend. That explanation began to weaken when Eiler did not show up for two straight work shifts and relatives said no one could reach him.
The investigation turned sharply on Monday, March 16, when Eiler’s father contacted deputies again and described what he considered unusual behavior around the property. According to the affidavit, he said Averett had been burning material in a firepit and asking questions about how to dispose of ashes. He later looked through the ashes and told investigators he found what appeared to be trigger locks. He also said Averett first refused to let him inside the home, then allowed him in long enough for him to notice missing bedding, repeated laundry, a handgun sitting in an unusual spot and fresh dirt in the yard. Around the same time, investigators spoke with relatives who said Averett had admitted that Eiler was dead. Bay County sheriff’s Capt. Jason Daffin told local television that the family had called for help to protect the children who were living at the residence, adding that they were not trying to help her escape responsibility.
Deputies returned to the property and, after speaking with family members, confronted Averett again. Investigators said she later waived her rights and gave a statement that matched much of what relatives had already described. In the probable cause affidavit, authorities said Averett told detectives she shot Eiler twice in the back with a .380-caliber pistol after an argument that began the night of March 11 and continued into March 12. Deputies said she then tried to dismember the body in the bathtub with a hatchet and a knife, moved the remains outside in a gray tote and buried them in multiple spots in the yard. Investigators also said she acknowledged buying cleaning supplies from several stores in an effort to scrub the home. Daffin told WJHG that Averett was “pretty clear and concise” in the interview and that her account remained consistent as detectives pressed for details.
Authorities then sought and executed a search warrant at the home. News reports citing the sheriff’s office said investigators found human remains in several areas of freshly disturbed soil, including roughly five spots on the property. Deputies also noted a spray-painted message on a storage box in the yard that read, “Joe I love you,” a detail included in the public reporting of the affidavit. The sheriff’s office has not publicly released a full inventory of evidence taken from the property, and it had not said by Wednesday whether forensic testing had confirmed all of the remains recovered or whether additional searching would be needed. Officials also had not released an autopsy report or publicly described whether prosecutors may pursue other charges tied to abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence or child endangerment. For now, the clearest public allegation remains the murder count supported by the affidavit and the confession deputies say they obtained.
The setting of the case has made it especially grim for investigators and relatives alike. The father’s proximity to the couple’s home gave deputies an unusually close witness to the hours before and after Eiler disappeared, but it also meant the search played out on property where family members were living through the aftermath in real time. Sheriff’s officials have said two small children were at the residence, and Eiler was reported to be the father of one of them. Authorities have not publicly detailed where the children were when the shooting happened or what protective steps were taken immediately afterward, though Daffin said relatives were focused on keeping the children safe once they realized the situation had turned into a possible homicide. Those unanswered questions sit alongside others that remain open, including whether anyone else knew of the burial before deputies were called back to the home and how long investigators believe the cleanup effort lasted.
Legally, the case is still in its earliest stage. Averett has been booked into the county jail, and court records cited by news organizations describe the charge as first-degree premeditated murder. That means prosecutors will now have to move from a probable cause affidavit to a formal court case built around physical evidence, forensic testing, witness accounts and whatever portions of Averett’s statement they believe will hold up in court. Defense lawyers, once appointed or retained, are likely to examine the timing of the interview, the search warrant, the handling of the scene and the exact wording of the confession. Prosecutors also may wait for medical examiner findings before deciding whether to add charges. As of March 18, no public court calendar entry had been widely reported for Averett’s next appearance, and the sheriff’s office had not announced any broader briefing beyond the statements already released.
The case drew immediate attention across the Florida Panhandle because it combined a missing-person search, a family tip, a rural burial scene and a confession that deputies say described both the killing and the attempted cleanup. In local coverage, Daffin made clear that investigators were relying on more than the statement alone. Relatives had described the argument, possible gunshots, the firepit, the fresh dirt and the repeated cleaning before the search warrant was carried out. That sequence gave authorities a trail of facts they could compare against what Averett later said in the interview room. Even with that alignment, key parts of the public record remain incomplete. Investigators have not released body-camera video, photographs from inside the home or the exact timeline of when each burial site was dug. They also have not said whether any surveillance footage, receipts or phone records helped verify the purchases of bleach and other cleaning supplies that deputies say Averett mentioned.
As of Wednesday, Averett was in jail without bond, Eiler’s death had shifted from a disappearance to a murder prosecution and investigators were still waiting on the next formal court step. The next milestone is likely to be her first public court appearance or a prosecutor’s filing that spells out the charge and any additional counts.
Author note: Last updated March 18, 2026.