On a Saturday afternoon in Lusby, Maryland, the quiet of a residential neighborhood was shattered by a discovery that would unravel a tragic sequence of events. On May 2, 2015, authorities were called to a home on Sycamore Road for a report of an unconscious male. Inside, they found 48-year-old Levi Sylvester Buck Sr., who had sustained a fatal gunshot wound to the head.
First responders attempted to perform CPR, but his injuries were too severe, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Calvert County Sheriff’s Office immediately launched a homicide investigation. Detectives worked diligently, interviewing numerous witnesses who were cooperative with the inquiry. It wasn't long before their investigation pointed toward a person of interest, a 43-year-old man from Mechanicsville named Robert Scott Slaughter. A multi-jurisdictional alert was issued for Slaughter and his vehicle, a distinctive 2006 red Ford Mustang GT. Law enforcement agencies across Southern Maryland, including Calvert, St. Mary's, and Charles County Sheriff's Offices, along with the Maryland State Police, began a widespread search for him, considering him to be armed and dangerous.
Investigators managed to make brief telephone contact with Slaughter on the evening of the murder. During the approximately five-minute conversation, he indicated he would come to the sheriff's office to discuss Buck's death, but he never arrived. It was later revealed that prior to this call, Slaughter had exchanged text messages that suggested he was contemplating suicide. The search for him continued through the night and into the next day as detectives canvassed neighborhoods and followed up on leads.
The grim conclusion to the manhunt came on Monday, May 4, 2015. Slaughter's red Mustang was located in the parking lot of a church in Mechanicsville. Inside the vehicle, authorities found Slaughter in the driver's seat, deceased from a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. A small caliber rifle was found in his hand. Based on witness statements, electronic data, and the evidence gathered, investigators determined that Robert Scott Slaughter had shot and killed Levi Buck and then, sometime between that Saturday evening and the early hours of Sunday morning, had taken his own life. The case was brought to a somber close with the death of the sole suspect, leaving a community to mourn the loss of Levi Buck.
