Page 41 - Florida Sentinel 6-25-21
P. 41
Crime Man Linked To Murdered Security
Tampa Man Guilty Of Killing Mother, And Daughter
Guard Arrested
On Monday, a panel of ju- rists were given the task of finding Ronnie O’Neal, III, guilty of killing his former girl- friend and their daughter. After deliberating for 4-1/2 hours, the jury found him guilty on all seven counts.
O’Neal was charged with two counts of first-degree mur- der, one count of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated child abuse, one count of arson, and one count of resisting a law en- forcement officer without vio- lence.
The case now moves to the penalty phase and the Hills- borough County State Attor- ney’s Office is asking for the death penalty. The same jury will remain in place for the penalty phase of the trial, which will begin Wednesday.
O’Neal represented himself in the double murder trial.
Among the witnesses in the case was O’Neal’s biological son who was attacked, stabbed several times, and set afire. He testified against his father. The child, now 11, has been adopted by one of the detec- tives who worked on the case.
Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren said, “These murders are among the most cruel and vi- cious our community has ever seen. Sitting in the courtroom with the victims’ family, hear- ing a mother’s screams, seeing the horrific pictures of her daughter — it’s hard to fathom how someone can do some- thing so barbaric. his punish- ment — his life — now sits with a jury of his peers, as it should.”
Investigators found that O’Neal shot and beat the mother of his children to death with a shotgun, picked up a hatchet and attacked and killed their 9-year-old daugh-
ALISHA WINDFIELD ... Found dead last week
A 55-year-old man, linked to the murder of a security guard, has been arrested. He was charged with tampering with physical evidence.
On June 9th, the Hillsbor- ough County Sheriff's Office responded to the report of a missing security guard. Family members reported the woman, who was a security guard for an apartment complex, miss- ing last Wednesday evening. When deputies arrived at the Beach Walk Condominiums, 4349 Bayside Village Drive in Town N’ Country, they located the missing woman’s vehicle in the parking lot of the com- plex.
As the missing person inves- tigation continued, the Hills- borough County Sheriff’s Office was contacted by the St. Petersburg Fire Rescue who responded to a fire in a wooded area near a rest stop, next to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
After the fire was extin- guished the body of a woman was discovered. Based on the preliminary investigation, St. Petersburg Detectives believed the body was that of the miss- ing woman reported to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office that same evening. De- tectives turned the investiga- tion over to Hillsborough County.
As the investigation contin- ued, detectives obtained a lead that led them to a Tampa man. Based on information and evi- dence, detectives have ar- rested Fred Williams and charged him with tampering with physical evidence.
FRED WILLIAMS
... Charged with tampering with evidence
Williams was transported to the Hillsborough County Jail.
Police have not released any additional information on the victim or what led them to Williams. The investigation remains active.
Hillsborough County Sher- iff Chad Chronister said, “Our detectives have identified a person of interest and are working to piece together this heinous crime.
“We are urging anyone who may have seen something sus- picious, to please come for- ward. The more details we have, the faster we can make an arrest.”
The Victim
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office has not identi- fied the deceased woman. However, her family members provided a photograph and identified the woman in an ar- ticle published by another news outlet.
According to the article, the victim has been identified as Ms. Alisha Windfield, the mother of three children.
According to the page,
Ms. Alisha Joanna Capel Windfield was 35 years old. She was married and the mother of three children 4, 8, and 9 years old.
A GoFundMe account has been established to help her children. The Go Fund Me page can be accessed at: Go- FundMe to help with expenses and caring for her three chil- dren.
Anyone with information is urged to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8200.
MS. KENYATTA BARRON 11/13/1984 --- 3/18/2018
ter, then used a kitchen knife to slash and stab their 8-year- old son.
O’Neal then attempted to set fire to the house; his daughter’s body; and his son, who was still alive. The son es- caped and testified remotely during the trial. He was given ongoing support and counsel- ing from experts in pediatric mental health.
Assistant State Attorneys
Ronald Gale, Scott Har- mon, and Luis Aguila prose- cuted the case.
To sentence 32-year-old O’Neal to death, a recommen- dation of death from the jury must be unanimous, and the judge must then agree. If any of the 12 jurors does not rec- ommend death, or Judge Michelle Sisco disagrees with their recommendation of death, then O’Neal will serve life in prison.
The Murders
On the night of March 18, 2018, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office received a 9-1-1 call.
The dispatcher received the call from an unidentified woman. During the call, the fe- male caller repeatedly pleaded for help and told the dis- patcher that she's been shot. When asked where she was,
RON’NIVEYA O’NEAL 7/29/2008 --- 3/18/2018
RONNIE O’NEAL, III Convicted of double murder
the caller provided a partial address of "1234", when an un- known male can be overheard in the background yelling, "Allah Akbar!"
The female caller apparently stated, "I'm so sorry Ronnie,” with loud screaming coming from the same female. An un- known male in the background can be overheard stating, "She killed me" and then directed a supposed neighbor, "Don't come outside, call 9-1-1 now," police said.
The woman could no longer be heard and the call ended. She was later identified as Ms. Kenyatta Barron.
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