ESCAMBIA COUNTY, FLA. (WSVN) — A man accused of torturing his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter has committed suicide, according to deputies.
Escambia County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to the Pensacola News Journal that 37-year-old Andrew Bennett Ross Celaius was found hanging in his jail cell at around 11 p.m. May 1, just hours after he was charged with abusing his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter.
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Celaius was taken to the hospital where he was placed on life support. Family members ultimately decided to take him off life support, and Celaius was pronounced dead at 1:13 p.m. Tuesday, Sheriff David Morgan told the newspaper.
Despite Celaius’ death, deputies said they are going to continue with the investigation.
“We’re looking for any additional victims, and anyone who might have had knowledge of the crimes being committed and failed to report them,” Morgan said.
Investigators said videos were recorded of the torture, and they are looking to see if the videos were shared in any capacity.
“Right now, we have no proof the videos were shared or sold or anything else, but there is a market for – just like there is for child pornography – films involving torture,” Morgan told the paper. “But we don’t have any indication of that right now.”
Celaius’ friend, Eric Everett Furnans, was also arrested after deputies said he destroyed cellphones believed to contain videos of the abuse on Celaius’ behalf. Morgan said that case is still under investigation and would not be affected by Celaius’ death.
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