Investigators in Florida have launched a homicide investigation after two teenagers were rushed to the hospital from a Fort Myers restaurant, one of whom died hours later after returning home.
Ava Hewlett, 19, was out with a group at Pelican Larry’s Raw Bar & Grill when she and at least one friend suffered a medical emergency, according to the family’s attorney, Anthony Rickman.
She then returned home, where her family found her unresponsive a few hours later.
“She was taken from there to the hospital,” Rickman said, “and they released her, but then she was released back home and she died a short time later.”
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Ava Hewlett, 19, died under suspicious circumstances after being rushed to a hospital from a seafood bar in Fort Myers, Florida, and authorities are investigating it as a homicide. (Courtesy of the Hewlett family)
The victim’s name was not released due to Florida privacy laws, but the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said they responded to a call for help at a restaurant and responded to a home in reference to the death of a 19-year-old woman, where they found the teenage girl dead on a bedroom floor. She was pronounced dead by paramedics 10 minutes later.
“Investigators learned she had been a patron at Pelican Rally’s the previous evening,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
Detectives are investigating the incident as a homicide, but the sheriff’s office said there is no evidence that restaurant employees are responsible.
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“Authorities are not investigating the restaurant as a case of poisoning or anything like that,” Rickman told Fox News Digital. “If this was a case of poisoning, we believe it was an intentional act by a third party that contributed to Ava Hewlett’s medical condition.”
Laboratory and toxicology results and other forensic tests remained pending Monday.
Rickman has been representing the Hewlett family since the accidental death of Ava’s brother, who was shot and killed by one of his friends in 2019. FOX 13 Tampa.
Ava Hewlett poses in an undated family photo with her brother Bradley, who died at age 15 in a separate tragedy when a friend accidentally fired a gun at him. (Courtesy of the Hewlett family)
In that incident, a friend was playing with his father’s gun when it fired, fatally wounding Bradley Hewlett.
“The family is heartbroken,” Rickman said. “No family should have to bury a child, let alone two. And no parent should have to outlive their child, but this poor parent is now going to outlive them both.”
Rickman said Ava’s mother, Megan Hewlett, wrote in a Facebook post that she did not believe her daughter committed suicide or knowingly took a dangerous substance.
The exterior of the shopping center that houses Pelican Larry’s, where Ava Hewlett had gone with friends before being hospitalized. Investigators have said restaurant employees are not involved in the murder investigation. (Google Maps)
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The post was no longer visible Monday, but Rickman said it had been accurately preserved. Tampa Bay Times.
“My daughter was conscious after the incident and told me she didn’t want to die,” her mother wrote. “She was scared.”
She added that police are also investigating “other overdoses reported at the bar.”
“This is traumatic. This is sad. This is horrible,” Rickman said. “No family should have to go through this.”
