A Levy county man with a violent criminal history is accused of killing his girlfriend and then staging her death to make it look like a suicide. Sheriff's deputies say they have their man, but the defendant's family says he had nothing to do with the death of Summer Lynn Keller.
Major Evan Sullivan said, "We have no indication of suicide." He says that determination, along with inconsistent statements and physical evidence led Levy county deputies to arrest Gary Andrew Sullivan, who goes by the name Andy, on Tuesday morning.
They say Sullivan killed his girlfriend Summer Keller, a cancer survivor and mother of four, after an argument. Keller's friend Heather Smith said, "We all knew if she didn't get away from him eventually something would happen."
The sheriff's office responded to this home on April 8th, where Keller and Sullivan lived despite their tumultuous relationship.
Andy Sullivan said he found Keller hanging from a tree by a scarf and then cut her down to help her while trying to call 911. Keller died the next morning.
After an autopsy, the medical examiner said that scarf could not be what made the ligature marks around Keller's neck and ruled the death homicide by manual strangulation.
Sullivan's sister in law Marisa Sullivan said, "As a family we know that he did not do this." She says law enforcement jumped to accuse her brother in law because of his criminal history. Saying that Keller was suicidal and that if there was foul play, Sullivan didn't do it because he loves Keller and isn't violent towards women. Marisa Sullivan said, "Does he have a history, yes...does it make him capable of murder, no." Sullivan says the family is looking for a defense attorney and that they believe the truth will set Andy Sullivan free.
But the sheriff's office and Keller's best friend, Heather Smith are confident that the right man is in custody. Smith said, "In every bit she might not have been my biological sister, but she was my sister and I...I cry every day for her." And the four young children without a mom.
Andy Sullivan is in custody at the Levy county jail, charged with first degree murder. Summer Keller's children are in the care of relatives.