No Escape: The Murder of Brittney Lavoll

Episode #69 - No Escape The Murder of Brittney Lavoll

[Shaun] 

In a 24-hour city like Las Vegas, early morning means many workers are getting their days started while others are clocking out and heading home at the end of a long shift. In the pre-dawn hours of March 25, 2010, a scream broke the silence. 

Lee and Wade turned their heads toward the Jack in the Box restaurant across the street. Moments later they heard a gunshot and saw a woman collapse in the parking lot. 

[John] 

They ran to help, but it was too late. A young mother of three—who had done everything right to escape her abuser—had just been murdered. And the man who killed her? He should never have had a gun.

(Music - Pause for 8 seconds)

[Shaun] 

Hi and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence, as well as missing persons and unsolved cases. I’m your host, Shaun. 

[John] 

And I’m your co-host, John. 

[Shaun] 

Before we get to our main case this week, John and I want to share with you the story of Courtney Lynne Townsend. 

Ruby, a friend of the family, reached out to us to share this information with our listeners. Courtney’s sister, Dallas, & Courtney’s mother are asking the public for help to bring justice to her case. They need people to come forward with information. 

Dallas has not stopped working on getting her story out to the public since day one of her sister’s disappearance. She created the Facebook page called Justice for Courtney & has been posting updates often. She has also asked for the public’s assistance with donations through GoFundMe account to hire a private investigator. 

All of these links will be in our linktree and on our Instagram and Facebook.

[John] 

Courtney was a loving mother and a great friend with an outgoing personality. She loved her family & friends & would have done anything for the ones she loved. 

Courtney was from Utah but was known to have friends and family in Las Vegas and would visit here often. 

She was only 32 years old when she was last seen in St. George on November 16, 2023. Courtney was driving her mom’s car when she was pulled over by police in Hurricane, UT, which is about 20 miles east of St. George. The traffic stop was captured on body cam footage. 

She told the officers that she was headed to Cedar City. He did give her a speeding ticket, but before he walked away, she tried to give the officer a small box, like a jewelry box. No one knows for sure what was inside the box or her reason for doing this. 

[Shaun] 

Three days later, on November 19, 2023, the car was found near Duck Creek Village, Utah, 30 miles from Cedar City and more than 80 miles from St. George. 

The car was in the forest, about 10 feet from the roadway. It had been completely burned. About a half inch of snow had fallen the night before the deputy found the car, and according to the report, “The vehicle was cold to the touch. There were no footprints around the vehicle, so the deputy was able to determine the car burned before the snow fell.”

If you visit the Justice for Courtney Facebook page you can see that the car was completely burnt out by the fire, and the fire was determined to be arson. 

The deputy found other items near the car, including navy dog tags, earrings, sunglasses, a wooden box, a wallet, credit cards, and driver's licenses, but none of the identifying cards belonged to Courtney. 

All of this evidence was turned over to a detective with the Kane County Sheriff's Office, and the car was towed and eventually destroyed. 

I want to point out that according to the family, this is partly where things went wrong. Duck Creek is under Kane County jurisdiction, but Courtney had been reported missing from St. George, which is in Washington County. So, the detectives in Kane didn’t realize at first that the car was connected to Courtney’s disappearance. 

[John] 

Her sister, Dallas, and multiple friends and family members urged authorities and the community to keep looking for Courtney and to not give up hope. 

For months they did not have any answers or information. According to police, the snow made searching “impossible” until it began to melt in the Spring. 

It wasn’t until May 2024 when a person riding an ATV in the area found some clothing along the side of the road. Search and rescue volunteers were able to recover partial remains that were later determined to be Courtney’s. 

Inexplicably, one day later on May 28, 2024, the Kane County Sheriff's Office said they did not suspect foul play was involved and that it wasn’t a suspicious death, however, they stated the investigation is ongoing. 

Given the state of her car and the fact that only partial remains were recovered, it’s confusing why they wouldn’t consider her death suspicious. We regret that we don’t have more information on the details of the investigation. 

[Shaun] 

So many people who loved Courtney have been left with unanswered questions. Her sister Dallas told the local news, “I’m not going to let her turn into a cold case years from now, it’s just not in me, I can’t do it, she deserves better."

Courtney was only 32 years old. She was 4’11” and weighed 110 lbs. Brown eyes and brown hair. She enjoyed wearing wigs on occasion and liked changing the color of her hair. 

Here is what you can do to help. If you have any information about Courtney or her disappearance, please contact the Kane County Utah Sheriff’s Department at 435-644-4916. 

Her loved ones are interested in hearing from anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious around the time she went missing, that would be November of 2023, or if you have any idea where Courtney may have been in the few days between when she was last seen and the car was found, or any other details or information you may have. 

The family is pleading for even the smallest details which may help them find out what happened to Courtney. 

They are also actively seeking assistance from forensic investigators or an attorney. 

We will share their GoFundMe where they hope to raise enough money to hire a private investigator to continue this investigation.

Please help them out by sharing her photo on social media this week. We hope they find answers soon. 

[John] 

Our main case this week is the story of a domestic violence survivor who did “everything right,” but still had her life taken by her obsessive, controlling ex.

Brittney Lavoll’s story became a focal point for activists both locally and nationally, in the conversation around guns and domestic violence and how we can create sensible gun regulations that keep survivors and families safe. 

Brittney was born on September 1, 1987, and was a Las Vegas native, born and raised. She graduated from Desert Pines High School. Her mom’s name is Mechele, her father is Charles. She had a brother, Brandon, and a sister, Shaena. 

She worked as a restaurant manager for Jack in the Box and was known for being very hard-working. She also was the devoted mother of 3 boys who she adored. 

The father of two of her boys was Kevin Gipson. Brittney had a relationship with Kevin that began in high school. This relationship was described as being difficult, which is an understatement. Kevin was about 3 years older than her and also attended Desert Pines High.

His lawyer would later describe Kevin like this: He was well-liked in high school by his peers and his teachers. He was known to be friendly and tried really hard in school. He was a talented football player, and he received a few offers from colleges to attend & play. However, Kevin was not able to make that happen, allegedly because of his mental health challenges. 

According to his lawyer, it is during this time, between high school and college, when Kevin’s mental health took a turn. He is said to have received treatment for bipolar disorder as well as schizophrenia. 

He reportedly did not have a steady work history and had difficulty maintaining access to health insurance, and of course, his medications. 

We don’t share this as an attempt to excuse any of Kevin’s behaviors; even his lawyers argued this did not excuse any of his choices. We want to share this to give a complete picture of the events leading up to the crime, and to highlight another challenge and shortcoming when it comes to domestic violence: access to consistent effective mental health care for both perpetrators and survivors. 

[Shaun] 

The relationship between Kevin and Brittney was plagued by violent incidents. While it’s said they were together, on again off again, for 10 years, during that time, Kevin was involved with multiple other women and was arrested several times. 

In 2003, he punched his girlfriend of 2 years - not Brittney - in the face and several times in the back of the head. He threw her into a wall and strangled her.  He threatened her so she wouldn’t call the police, but several hours later she was able to contact her sister, and then the police were called. He was convicted of battery and domestic violence. 

The following year, he pleaded guilty to a DV misdemeanor after he pushed another different girlfriend down the stairs and then dragged her back up the stairs by her tshirt and into their apartment. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail and was ordered to attend counseling and perform community service. 

Twice in 2009, he strangled yet another new girlfriend. He was also charged with threatening her and her dad, to the effect of, you’re gonna come up missing or your father is gonna come up missing. According to court records, the victim in these cases didn’t follow up and charges were dropped. 

For me, this highlights why it’s important to not just stress a victim “leave” their abuser and build our policies around that. In the span of 7 years, Kevin committed several acts of violence against 3 different women other than Brittney. 

Without effective punishment or treatment, Kevin continued to develop relationships with new women and went on to threaten, beat, and strangle them. 

Court records show a history of other charges not related to domestic violence, including felony charges of robbery and theft. In 2003, he was charged with felony theft, but accepted a plea deal to attempted theft, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to 30 days. 

During this time frame, he also had a few citations for other misdemeanors, including one that mentions leaving the scene of an accident and DUI, and a charge of lewd conduct in 2005. 

In 2006, Kevin was charged with two counts of felony robbery and one count of conspiracy. In that case, he shoved a worker who was carrying a bank bag to the bank to make a deposit after a shift. He slammed that victim into a lampost, dislodging it from the ground. Once the victim was down, he grabbed the bank bag and ran away. The victim needed to be treated at a hospital for their injuries. 

He told the court that he was depressed and had no money; his girlfriend had just had a baby, and he was feeling like less of a man because he couldn’t provide for his kids, and he couldn’t get a job, because he had outstanding warrants. He told the court that if he was granted probation he promised that he would never be arrested for anything again. He was sentenced to 3 years probation. 

Approximately 2 years after he was sentenced, he was dishonorably discharged from probation for failing to comply with the conditions he was ordered to follow. The paperwork says that he would no longer be under supervision. 

This feels like a failure of the system, again. 

[John] 

Kevin also committed acts of violence against Brittney and threatened to kill her several times. The two of them did have two children together, 2 boys, born approximately in 2003 and 2005. 

According to both Kevin and her family, the two of them broke up around 2008. Kevin had said it was because he was cheating on her, but Brittney started disclosing to her friends and family the abuse Kevin inflicted on her, and the actions Brittney took after the breakup indicate that something much more serious was going on. 

Her dad Charles would later tell reporters that Kevin was jealous and continued to stalk her after they broke up. Charles helped her move to a new apartment, and they did not tell Kevin where she was living. He continued to call her constantly to the point where she changed her phone number. He would often threaten her and say “when are you going to let me see the kids” and repeatedly said, “I am going to kill you.” 

Kevin would go to where she was working and demand money from her, as a way of bribing her to prevent him from making a scene at her job. 

It reached the point where she was transferred to a different Jack in the Box location and her coworkers were told that nobody was to tell anyone where Brittney was working. 

We want to take a minute and note that this was the right thing to do, and we’re glad that Jack in the Box took this step to help Brittney stay safe and avoid further harassment of her and likely her coworkers as well. 

We all recognize that it is abusive behavior like this that can result in victims becoming unemployed, unhoused, and even further trapped by domestic violence. This controlling behavior and harassment often results in victims quitting or being fired, and we’re glad her employers allowed her to transfer. 

[Shaun] 

Going back to the children for a second. It’s in the record that Kevin repeatedly claimed she wasn’t letting him see the kids. However, several friends and family gave statements that Brittney did allow him to have visitation with the children often. 

She initially would bring the kids herself, but when that became unsafe, she asked friends and family to help her safely transfer the kids to him. She would never do it alone. 

There was an incident where Kevin went to Charles’s house and broke in, demanding to know where Brittney was. From then on, when Brittney would go visit her dad, she would park far from his place, hoping he wouldn’t know she was there.

Brittney's mother Mechele reported that he had threatened to shoot Brittney on previous occasions, and in February of 2010, Kevin’s mother contacted Brittney and told her that he had a gun and was on his way to kill her. He did not follow through on that threat at that time. 

To us, it sounds like Brittney was doing everything she could think of to stay safe from Kevin, although she still had to be in contact with him because of the kids they shared. 

[John]

In the early morning hours of March 25, 2010, Brittney headed to work for an early shift at the Jack in the Box restaurant on Lake Mead Boulevard and Buffalo. It was 5:45AM, about 45 minutes from sunrise. 

Across the street, two friends, Lee and Wade, were just leaving the Einstein’s bagels when they heard a woman scream and heard a gun shot coming from the Jack in the Box parking lot. 

Another man named Christian was leaving the Starbucks next to Einsteins, and the 3 of them saw a woman on the ground near the Jack in the Box drive through and man in a hooded sweatshirt running away.

The three of them hurried across the street and called 911. Wade approached the woman and saw her Jack in the Box name tag said Brittney, and he yelled her name over and over to see if she would answer him. He got no response and believed she was dead. 

Around the same time, a woman named Christina was just leaving work at a nearby Vons supermarket. She drove past the Jack in the Box and she saw a woman lying on the ground, and a man in a dark sweatshirt was standing over her.

She hadn’t heard a scream or a gunshot, so she thought maybe the woman was drunk and the man was helping her to her car. 

But as she approached the intersection, she noticed that same man, in the dark sweatshirt, run past her car and onto Lake Mead. 

She must have had an instinct about what had happened because she decided to follow him. He was cutting into parking lots and behind buildings, and she lost him. She was never able to see his face. 

Police arrived and Brittney was transported to UMC. She had been shot once in the head, and sadly she died just a short time after arriving at the hospital. 

[Shaun] 

The police were able to find out that her 3 kids were at home with a babysitter. When they went to her apartment, the sitter told them about Kevin, and his violent threats and behavior. 

The police, of course, wanted to speak with Kevin. They went to his mom’s apartment that same day, and while they were speaking with her, Kevin called her on the phone. 

The officers asked him to come in and talk to them about Britney, and he agreed. He met them at the Homicide offices around 3PM that afternoon. Kevin was told he was not under arrest and could stop the interview at any time. They explained to him that he had the right to remain silent and had him explain what that meant back to them. They told him that all he would have to say was “I don’t want to talk anymore” and then they’d be done with the interview – the officers even told him that they wouldn’t be angry or upset if that happened. 

He said he understood that he didn't have to speak with them. At one point they started recording the interview, and again they reviewed his rights in detail, before he agreed to speak to them. 

Kevin denied having anything to do with the murder. He told police that the 2 of them had dated for 5 years, had 2 boys together, and they had broken up about a year ago, because he was cheating. He denied ever being abusive towards her. 

Kevin told the police he was trying to get back together with her, but hadn’t seen her in 5 months. He said he tried to contact her at her job, but they told him she no longer worked at that location.

Kevin explained that he had been trying to contact her again recently because his son’s birthday was 2 days ago and he wanted to see him, but he said he wasn’t ever able to get in touch with her. 

As far as his alibi, he told police that he was at his friend Denise’s house, hanging out with her and her boyfriend, a man who went by the nickname “Mississippi.” Later that night, the 3 of them headed out to a party at a mutual friend’s house. 

On their way to the party, they were pulled over by Las Vegas Metro and Mississippi was arrested for having outstanding warrants. Despite this, Kevin and Denise went to the party anyway and enjoyed themselves, drinking and playing cards until 2:30 or 3AM when they went back to Denise’s house.

Kevin said his mom called him that morning and told him that “something had happened” to Brittney, and his cousin Isaiah let him know that everyone was looking for him. 

[John]

Kevin comes across as extremely cooperative with the police during this whole exchange. He even agreed to give a DNA sample and undergo a gunshot residue test. 

Police asked him about taking a polygraph test and reminded him again that all he would have to do is say he wanted to stop, and they’d stop the interview. 

Kevin told them that he’d “seen the shows” - presumably referring to Police procedural shows, and explained that he wasn’t sure about doing a polygraph test. He said he wasn’t against doing it, but said he had some questions about it. 

He asked to speak to a lawyer, and the officers explained that since he’s not under arrest they can’t provide him with a lawyer. But, they suggested he go home for the night and speak to his mom and to an attorney, and they’d pick him up the next day for the polygraph. 

At noon the next day, the officers picked him up. He wasn’t cuffed or placed under arrest, and he agreed to go with them. Before they began the test, they reviewed his rights in detail. 

The police determined that Kevin was not on any medication, he had eaten breakfast, and had gotten a full night’s sleep. To me, it’s clear that they suspected he might talk and they wanted to make sure that if he confessed, there would be no question as to whether the confession was coerced and that he was fully aware of what he was doing. 

The exam they gave him is called a “Concealed Information Test” or CIT. They told him that it wouldn’t show if he was lying, but that it would test if he had specific knowledge of events. They then asked him questions about the murder that only the murderer would know. 

Police told Kevin he had failed the CIT test, and as they suspected, he confessed to the crime.

[Shaun] 

Kevin said that he walked to the Jack in the Box that morning because he had heard from a coworker that she was working at that location. He hid in the bushes until he saw her pull up in her car. He confronted her and shot her. 

He said that she hadn’t allowed him to see the children in months and that he had been in and out of the mental hospital. He said he killed her because she “drove him crazy.” 

He seems to mean this literally. He claimed that he was seeing and hearing things, and that voices were telling him to shoot her. 

After the murder, he ran back to his friend Denise’s house and got rid of his bloody shoes and sweatshirt. 

As we mentioned earlier, Kevin had been found guilty of a felony, and under both Nevada and Federal law, he was prohibited from owning a gun. He told police that he bought the gun the day before from a friend, in exchange for $50 in cash and $50 in weed. 

This kind of purchase wouldn’t require a background check, in the unlikely event Kevin’s friend would have thought to ask for one. 

Later, Kevin returned the gun without saying it had been used in a crime. 

Before we go any further I want to explain something before people get too angry at this “coworker” who told Kevin where Brittney was working.

I don’t know if Kevin was telling the truth when he said that, but there were some facts that made me wonder if he was. 

Kevin’s stalking of Brittney was relentless, and about a week before the murder, he was seen by a Metro police employee sitting across the street from a different Jack in the Box location (this one was on Cheyenne), watching the inside of the restaurant with binoculars. 

The Metro employee said what he was doing didn’t warrant arrest, but she did let her Metro coworkers know what she saw. She later identified Kevin in a photo lineup.

To me, it sounds like he had begun staking out different locations looking for her, and that may have been how he found her. 

Her father, Charles told Fox5: "He's nothing and he took my daughter's life. She’s somebody and he’s a bum."

[John]

Kevin was arrested for Brittney’s murder and charged with one count of murder with a deadly weapon. His lawyer did try to get his confession thrown out, which is why we went into it in such detail to describe what happened. 

The motion to suppress the statement was denied for all the reasons we reviewed – it was voluntary and even though he wasn’t under arrest, he still was advised of his rights. 

In December of 2011, Kevin Gipson pleaded guilty to first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, and his sentencing hearing was held on February 24, 2012. 

During the hearing, the DA went over Kevin’s criminal history, and stressed that he had a history of making excuses for his behavior. She highlighted what we mentioned earlier, that he promised the judge in 2006 that he’d never set foot in a courtroom again if he was granted probation. 

She also played a voicemail that he had left for Brittney in 2006 that highlighted how controlling he was. He had called her from jail and Brittney could be heard saying, “I hear you were trying to kill me.”

There was no evidence that Brittney had ever kept the children from him, even though she was forced to take extraordinary measures to avoid him and stay safe. 

They also stressed that while Gipson said he was suffering from mental illness, there was clear evidence that he had planned out the crime and then concealed and lied about it afterward. He had bought the gun the day before, intending to kill Brittney. 

[Shaun] 

The defense stressed his history of mental health challenges and detailed his diagnoses and medications. We discussed earlier how Kevin was said to have been successful in high school but at some point started showing signs of mental health challenges. 

Kevin offered a statement where he said he was sorry to Brittney’s family and also to his children who will grow up without a mother. He said he accepted his punishment because he needed to be held accountable for what he did.

Britney’s mother, father, and sister gave powerful and detailed victim-impact statements of how Kevin had forever altered their lives. Mechele described how Brittney’s 3 boys were in pain after what happened and lost and confused since they were so young and couldn’t truly comprehend what had happened. 

Brittney’s youngest was only 13 months old, with the older boys being just 7 and 4 when she died. Mechele asked the court for a life sentence since Kevin had given all of them a life sentence of grief and pain.

Her father, Charles, asked the court to impose the maximum sentence, so he would never be able to get out and hurt anyone again. 

Her sister gave a heartbreaking account of everything she, the boys, and Brittney had missed out on because of Kevin. She said that Brittney should still be here to meet her baby niece that she never got to meet and to help her children grow. She should be here to celebrate their birthdays and their milestones, like her middle son’s first day of kindergarten. Her statement calls for justice for Brittney, who was doing what she was supposed to do every day, working hard and taking care of her family. 

The Judge sentenced Kevin Gipson to what was agreed upon in the plea deal - 28 years to life. He will be eligible for parole in 2030. 

[John]

Brittney’s funeral was held April 3, 2010 at Greater Evergreen Missionary Baptist Church in Las Vegas. The Reverend Rogers and Safe-Faith United founder and executive director Rebeca Ferreira led the procession to Woodlawn Cemetery, where she was laid to rest. 

The inscription on her tombstone reads:

Always In Our Hearts; In Loving Memory; Beloved Daughter, Sister and Mother. 

Brittney’s children are being lovingly raised by her mom and dad and are surrounded by many loving aunts, uncles, and cousins. 

Brittney’s mom Mechele became a strong domestic violence victim advocate and wrote an op-ed for the Las Vegas Sun in 2016; speaking out about DV & the effects of gun violence in Nevada. She also worked with Everytown for Gun Safety and the Nevada Network Against Domestic Violence on a detailed report of domestic violence homicides and firearms.  

[Shaun] 

We want to read part of what Mechele has said about her daughter:

The toll of domestic violence shootings is far worse than many people realize. These incidents devastate the families and children of women killed by their abusers – many of whom witness the shootings or are left behind.

My daughter was taken from me by a man who should never have had a gun. My grandchildren’s mother was stolen from them. No parent should have to bury her child, and no children should have to grow up without their mother.

Not a day goes by that I don’t cry for her. I constantly fight back the tears when I catch myself looking at the boys and seeing signs of Brittney. They are the loves of my life, but also a constant reminder of our deep loss.

It has been six years since my daughter was killed, and the void her death left behind is as heartbreaking today as it was the day she died. You don’t ever recover from the death of a child; you just have to try to make it through another day and learn to live with a new normal.

It’s too late to save Brittney, but I don’t want another mother to go through this unbearable pain.

[John]

Brittney has been gone for 15 years and we’re still working to craft policies that effectively keep guns out of the hands of abusers. 

Brittney did everything an advocate would have advised her to do: she left her abusive partner, she changed her number, she moved to a new place, she changed where she was working, she alerted her friends, family and coworkers of what was happening, and took steps to protect herself and her children when she had to do a custody exchange. 

Sarah Tofte, from Everytown for Gun Safety wrote in their 2016 report: 

“Our research shows undeniable proof that in many of these cases, there were ample indications that the shooters posed a risk to their partners – and that some of these tragedies could have been avoided if stronger laws had been in place to protect Nevada women. 

For example, at least one in four shooters had a criminal record that prohibited them from having a gun legally, but they were able to get firearms because of loopholes in Nevada law, including through unlicensed gun sales. The data shines a light on the elevated rates of intimate partner gun violence in Nevada, but they also show how stronger laws can reduce gun violence and save lives.”

These statistics are due for an update since nearly 10 years have passed, but in the context of the research Everytown did in 2016: Nevada women were 65 percent more likely to be shot to death by intimate partners than women nationwide, and Nevada had the fifth highest rate of domestic violence gun homicide of women in any state.

Meanwhile, in states that require background checks for all handgun sales, there were 46 percent fewer intimate partner gun homicides of women.

This is why we do the podcast, so we can continue to highlight the stories of survivors and the lasting effects these tragedies have on our entire community, and we want to keep talking about solutions. 

As always, you can find resources and links to organizations near you where you can donate, volunteer, or get more information on domestic violence, so we keep working towards prevention and solutions. 

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And we remind you what happens here happens everywhere.