Pinellas County deputy arrested after sending death threats to wife, detective say

Marquis Fitzgerald resigned after detectives discovered that he made violent threats to his wife.

A Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office deputy was arrested after sending his wife death threats, officials said.

On May 4, 31-year-old Deputy Marquis Fitzgerald was placed on administrative leave without pay after an investigation revealed text messages Fitzgerald sent to his wife due to infidelity issues.

According to investigators, Fitzgerald sent his wife photos of shooting target silhouettes riddled with bullet holes and insinuated that he would hurt the person he believed was involved with his wife.

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Authorities also say that Fitzgerald sent a text to his mother-in-law saying, "Come get your daughter before I kill her."

He was not arrested before being put on administrative leave because officials say his actions did not constitute a crime. Although, all of his agency issued firearms were collected from him, he was required to surrender his agency credentials, and any authority to act as a deputy sheriff was revoked.

Fitzgerald was arrested after detectives learned that on May 27, he sent a video to his wife of a man walking in on an assumed infidelity and stabbing the man and woman, killing the woman. 

Fitzgerald sent the message, "I just wanted you to see what some people do when that happens. There are crazy people in this world," in addition to the video. 

After his wife responded in fear, he told her to delete the video.

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On May 31, detectives arrested Fitzgerald for the felony offense, and he admitted to sending the video and messages to his wife.

After being taken to the Pinellas County Jail, Fitzgerald was told that he was the subject of an administrative investigation for additional policy violations.

Fitzgerald then resigned in lieu of termination.

He's been charged with one count of written threats to kill or do bodily harm.

The investigation is ongoing.

Pinellas CountyCrime and Public Safety