ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A judge on Friday denied bond for a former Orange County Sheriff’s Office sergeant accused of fatally shooting his estranged wife, who was a lieutenant with the same agency.
Anthony Shea was arrested in October in the death of Orange County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Eloilda “Ellie” Shea, 39, who was found dead in their home.
Shea is currently being held without bond, but his attorneys on Thursday asked a judge to set a bail amount. Judge Lisa Munyon delivered her ruling Friday morning after a hearing wrapped up Thursday afternoon.
Shea’s attorneys had said their client has deep roots in Central Florida, he has not attempted to skip court and wants to return to his two children.
Orange-Osceola State Attorney Monique Worrell released a statement Friday afternoon regarding the judge’s ruling:
The Court’s decision today to deny bond for Anthony Shea reflects the seriousness of the charges he faces. Beyond the legal proceedings, this case is about honoring the life of a woman who dedicated herself to protecting others. This was a tragic loss of life that has deeply impacted the law enforcement community, as well as our circuit. We continue to extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and colleagues of the victim during this painful time. Our office remains steadfast in ensuring that her service, her sacrifice, and her memory are met with the justice they deserve.
State Attorney Monique Worrell
He retired from the sheriff’s office in August 2024 during an internal investigation into an affair while on duty.
According to an arrest affidavit, Shea told detectives that he found his wife on their bed in a pool of blood and she had a gun on her chest. He told detectives the couple had been fighting constantly since the discovery of the affair and that she had been depressed and overwhelmed by the investigation, according to the affidavit.
After reviewing cellphone records and bodycam video, detectives believed Shea tried to make it look like a suicide by using the victim’s phone to send messages to his own phone, delaying contacting 911 for help and misleading deputies who arrived to investigate, the affidavit reads.
“Ellie cared deeply about this agency and the work we do, and I considered her a rising star. We have all struggled this week with feelings of shock, grief and guilt while we tried to make sense of Ellie’s death, which was meant to appear as a suicide. I want to thank our homicide detectives, who had the extraordinarily difficult job of investigating a colleague’s murder, for their diligence in ensuring justice for Ellie,” Sheriff John Mina said in a statement last year.