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Newly-obtained 911 calls reveal moments after deputies say Keys woman fatally shot boyfriend

Sheriff: Girlfriend told deputies she had memory ‘gap’; friends remember victim

BIG COPPITT KEY, Fla. – Newly-obtained 911 calls reveal the moments after authorities said a Big Coppitt Key man was fatally shot by his girlfriend inside their home back in June.

Deputies with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office arrested Brittany Nicole Holbrook, 33, on a murder charge in the death of Tyler Nulisch.

According to a MCSO report, deputies responded to their home in the 400 block of Avenue F on June 17 after the couple’s roommate called 911.

Roommate Jordan Kinn reported that Nulisch, 30, had been shot, was bleeding, and was “in bad shape.”

The dispatcher asked Kinn where the blood was coming from, and screaming could be heard in the background.

“Brit- Brittany, where is he bleeding from? (inaudible)...his back...” Kinn said.

“His back?” the dispatcher asked.

Nulisch was later to taken to Lower Keys Medical Center, where he died, authorities said.

Tyler Nulisch (WPLG)

According to the arrest report, the couple had drinks at the house before heading to bed the night of June 16. Holbrook first told detectives she wasn’t sure what happened next and that “there was a gap” in her memory.

Then she claimed Nulisch had been strangling her, according to the report, but “no marks of any kind were observed around her throat.”

The couple’s roommate later told deputies that he had been awoken by Holbrook screaming and exited his bedroom to find Nulisch lying on the floor of the living room and bleeding, the report states.

The roommate told deputies that he “tried to ask Nulisch what happened and Nulisch replied ‘that b---- shot me in the back,’ referring to the girlfriend Brittany Holbrook,” deputies wrote. “Holbrook had no reaction after Nulisch made that statement.”

Friends remember victim

Nulisch was born and raised in the Florida Keys, according to longtime friends Brett Cantler and Torre Palmeno.

“Commercial fishing, lobster, stone crab. He did it all,” Cantler said.

“He was one of the best people that ever lived. No one in this world deserves that,” Palmeno added.

The friends said they did not know Holbrook well. Authorities said she had been in a relationship with Nulisch for about nine months prior to the shooting.

“I met her once or twice. I didn’t know much about her. I know he loved her,” Cantler said. “Tyler lived 30 years more than most people ever do in a lifetime. And had so much more to do still.”

Holbrook, who has pleaded not guilty in the case, was initially arrested on a second-degree murder charge. An official with the Monroe County State Attorney’s Office said they are looking into evidence of premeditation and plan to take the case to a grand jury.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 1, according to court records.


About the Authors
Janine Stanwood headshot

Janine Stanwood joined Local 10 News in February 2004 as an assignment editor. She is now a general assignment reporter. Before moving to South Florida from her Washington home, Janine was the senior legislative correspondent for a United States senator on Capitol Hill.

Chris Gothner headshot

Chris Gothner joined the Local 10 News team in 2022 as a Digital Journalist.

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