- December 16, 2025
UPDATED 10:32 p.m.
Flagler County Sheriff’s detectives today formally charged and arrested William Merrill with shooting his wife to death Tuesday morning in their Palm Coast home. Public Information Officer Debra Johnson reported this evening that the gun used was an AK-47 assault rifle.
Merrill, 32, was arrested at the Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigation Division shortly before 4:30 p.m. on charges of manslaughter with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. His bail was set at $200,000.
Deputies recovered 25 firearms at the home Tuesday when they responded around 9:17 a.m. to a report of a gunshot victim at 94 Covington Lane.
Detectives said Merrill pointed a caliber rifle, equipped with a laser, at his 30-year-old wife, Stefanie, while she was standing in the master bathroom where the couple’s 3-year-old daughter was taking a bath. A 6-year-old son was in school at the time and did not witness the incident.
Merrill told detectives that he and his wife were talking about the laser light and how bright it was when the gun accidentally fired, striking Stefanie in the chest area.
An autopsy completed Thursday morning revealed the mother of two died from the single shot. The Medical Examiner ruled the death as a homicide.
The children have been in the custody of their grandparents who live in Palm Coast since the shooting.
“This man’s reckless and careless handling of a firearm has resulted in the death of a wife and mother and has destroyed his family. Our thoughts are with those children and Mrs. Merrill’s family in light of this senseless tragedy,” said Sheriff Donald W. Fleming.
Flagler County Sheriff’s detectives worked with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s forensic unit and the Homicide Unit of the Seventh District State Attorney’s Office to investigate this incident and bring charges.
