Prosecution reveals gruesome details in first day of trial against alleged box-cutter killer

DELAND - A man murdered his girlfriend, stabbing and cutting her 77 times with a box cutter after she apparently refused to buy him a firearm, prosecutors said on the first day of his trial Tuesday morning.

Brandon McLean, 34, of DeLand, charged with first-degree murder, is accused of killing Amy Humphries, 28, of Orange City on April 20, 2021.

Accused killer represents himself in trial

The body of Humphries was found around 7 p.m., April 20, 2021, dumped on a walking/bicycle trail at Maytown-Osteen Road and Azalea Lane in Osteen, investigating Volusia County sheriff's detectives said.

McLean's murder trial started before a 12-member jury at the DeLand Courthouse at 101 N. Alabama Ave.

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McLean is representing himself in court. Though he is defending himself, a private attorney, Philip Massa, is standing by in case McLean needs help with the trial.

Prosecutor: Victim murdered after not buying gun

In her opening statement, Assistant State Attorney Heatha Trigones told the jury that McLean killed the victim in the new Volkswagen Jetta that she had just bought. The incident occurred about two hours after McLean had asked her to buy him a firearm, but she did not, Trigones said.

"On April 20, 2021, 28-year-old Amy Humphries was brutally beaten in her head and her face, she was strangled, she was cut 77 times with a utility knife, a box cutter," Trigones said.

Trigones said Humphries had an apartment and had recently bought the 2021 Volkswagen Jetta. She knew McLean and communicated through letter correspondence, the prosecutor said.

Volusia County sheriff's Det. Eugene Mefford said at trial the letters were found at Humphries Orange City apartment after a search warrant was executed at the home.

But a few weeks before her murder, Humphries started spending time with McLean.

McLean lived at the homeless center Neighborhood Center of West Volusia on Woodland Boulevard where he shared a room. McLean would leave the center and spend time with Humphries at her Orange City apartment, Trigones said.

On the day of her murder, McLean asked Humphries to buy him a firearm. So they visited Steel Fox Firearms in DeLand. McLean handed Humphries cash, the prosecutor said.

Inside the store, Humphries told the clerk she was buying the firearm for herself, so she was given an application form to fill out.

Humphries was given a firearm, which McLean also handles to get a feel of it. While filling out the document, Humphries starts to cry, and circles "NO" where the document asks if she was purchasing the gun for herself, Trigones said.

The clerk then tells Humphries she cannot sell her the pistol.

Victim's body found 2 hours later

Humphries and McLean left the store around 5 p.m. and shortly after she was dead, Trigones said.

"Within two hours at 7 o'clock p.m. Amy's body is found dumped on a walking trail in Osteen," Trigones said. "During those two hours the defendant murdered Amy inside her new car, she is in the passenger compartment."

After brutally killing Humphries and dumping her body, McLean steals her car and cellphone, which was never found, and drives around in the vehicle, Trigones said.

Volusia County Sheriff's investigators used technology to show that McLean traveled with Humphries' body to the scene where he left her on the trail partially naked. Phone records showed McLean was at the scene where the body was found, Trigones said.

"The defendant's phone and Amy's phone are traveling together to the scene where the body was found," Trigones said.

After the body was dumped, the cell phone tracking system shows the devices leaving the crime scene to an alley in Deltona where Humphries' missing flipflop was found, investigators said.

Suspect gets in shootout with police, injured

The day after Humphries' body was found, her car was spotted at a laundromat in Sanford. Seminole County sheriff's detectives surveilled it and after seeing McLean and another man approach the vehicle, they tried to contact them. But McLean ran. In court on Tuesday, detectives recounted how McLean ran and kept turning to look back as he fired a gun at them.

They returned fire hitting him in the leg and arm.

Victim's DNA found on box-cutter blade

After McLean was shot and fell behind a house on Maple Avenue in Sanford, first-aid was administered. And when he was searched, detectives found Humphries' belongings on him.

McLean had Humphries' car keys, driver's license, bank cards, and black lipstick. He also had the box cutter.

The box cutter blade had blood on it a DNA test showed that it was Humphries' blood, the prosecutor said.

Later, when the car was checked, detectives found a lot of blood in the Volkswagen Jetta's front passenger seat. The blood matched Humphries'.

On Tuesday, McLean sat at the desk, shuffling through papers and writing notes as detectives and witnesses testified. He did very little cross-examination and did not make any objections as the prosecutor submitted evidence against him.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Alleged box-cutter killer represents himself on first day of trial