Fla. woman allegedly shot boyfriend in his sleep, tried to dismember him before burying him in yard
03/21/2026 8:00 am PDT
BAY COUNTY, Fla. (TCN) -- A woman has been charged with open murder in connection with the death of her boyfriend, whose body parts were found buried in her yard.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office announced they received a missing person report on March 14 for Joseph Eiler, 38. He was last seen on March 12, and his father reported hearing him argue with his girlfriend, Ashley Averett, 32, at around 4 a.m. that day.
Police made contact with Averett on March 16, and she allegedly claimed she had argued with Eiler and he then left the house with a friend. That day, Eiler’s father called the police again, reporting Averett behaving suspiciously.
He said he heard gunshots on the night he heard the couple arguing, and that Averett had burned items in a fire pit and barred him from accessing parts of the house. In addition, he said bed sheets were missing and soil was disturbed in the yard. Investigators returned to the house, where a witness told them Averett had admitted to shooting Eiler while he slept.
According to the sheriff’s office, Averett allegedly confessed to shooting Eiler twice and attempting to dismember his body before burying him in the yard. A search revealed Eiler’s remains in multiple areas in the yard under the freshly disturbed soil. Averett was charged with open murder and taken into custody without incident.
According to Captain Daffin of the Bay County Sheriff’s Office, evidence in the home did not suggest that she allegedly acted in self-defense, WJHG reports. He said Averett “gave a reason as to why things happened, but you’re getting one side of the story; the other person is not here to tell their story, so I don’t put a lot of credence into what somebody who just took somebody’s life has to say.”
The investigation is ongoing.
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