Page 34 - Florida Sentinel 8-16-19

Crime
State Seeks Death
Trial Date Set In Seminole Heights Serial Killings
Penalty In Stabbing
Death Of Bus Driver
The Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office plans to seek the death penalty in the murder of a HART bus driver. The murder took place earlier this year.
Tampa police arrested 35- year-old Justin Ryan Mc- Griff and charged him with the murder of driver Thomas Dunn, 46, of Tampa.
On Tuesday court docu- ments filed stated that the State intends to prosecute the case as a death penalty case. The state contends that the case is a capital felony and “was especially heinous, atro- cious, or cruel.” The state also contends it “was com- mitted in a cold, calculated, and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification.”
The murder took place aboard a HART bus on May 18, 2019.
According to the Tampa Police Department, a man, armed with a knife, fatally in- jured Dunn, a driver with the Hillsborough Area Re- gional Transit, shortly after 4 p.m. The bus was traveling southbound on Nebraska Av- enue, between Lotus and E. Castle Court.
JUSTIN RYAN McGRIFF ... Charged with first-degree murder
After the murder, the man, later identified as Justin Ryan McGriff, fled the scene.
Witnesses told police that the man and the bus driver became engaged in an argu- ment. At some point during the argument, McGriff is al- leged to have stabbed the driver and fled the scene and ran toward Interstate 275. Officers later found a person matching the description of the suspect. He was initially charged with resisting arrest without bond. However, the charge was upgraded to first- degree murder.
HOWELL EMANUEL DONALDSON, III
... Charged with four counts of first-degree murder
The Hillsborough County State Attorney’s Office has set a trial date for a man charged with four counts of first-de- gree murder. The trial is slated to take place on August 10, 2020, before Circuit Judge Thomas Wolfe.
Howell Emanuel Don- aldson, III, is charged with the random killings of four individuals in the Seminole Heights neighborhoods. Donaldson has been in jail since his arrest on November 28, 2017.
The murders held the city captive for fifty-one days, be- ginning with the murder of Benjamin Mitchell, 22, on October 9, 2017. Mitchell was walking near N. 15th Street and E. Frierson, when he was shot. He died at a local hospital.
Four days later, a city em- ployee discovered the body of Ms. Monica Hoffa, 32, of Tampa. Her body was discov- ered on the morning of Octo- ber 13th, in a vacant lot in the 1000 block of East New Or- leans Avenue. She had last been seen walking through the neighborhood on October 11th, en route to meet a friend.
The next murder came about on October 19th, shortly before 8 p.m. Anthony Nai- boa, 20, a young adult with Autism, had gotten off the bus at the wrong stop. He was walking north on 15th Street in the area of Wilder Avenue when he was killed.
The final murder took place nearly a month later when 60-year-old Ronald Felton was killed. Felton was near the intersection of N. Nebraska Avenue and E. Caracas. Felton was ap- proached from behind. His death is unique in that the killer struck at 4:50 a.m., in- stead of at night as in the pre-
BENJAMIN MITCHELL Died October 9th
ANTHONY NAIBOA Died October 19th
vious cases.
By the time Felton was
killed, a reward for informa- tion leading to the suspect had reached $110,000.
The Arrest Howell Emanuel Don-
aldson, III, reportedly walked into the McDonald’s Restaurant in Ybor City on November 28th. He is said to have given a bag to the man- ager, Ms. Delanda Walker, and advised her not to look in the bag. He al- legedly left the restaurant and returned a short time later.
During his absence, Ms. Walker told an officer inside the restaurant about the gun. When Donaldson returned, he was taken into custody.
Donaldson admitted to law enforcement that he pur- chased the gun linked to the murders. Records show he took possession of it on Octo- ber 7th, two days before the first murder took place.
Forensic evidence linked the gun in Donaldson’s
MONICA HOFFA Died October 11th
RONALD FELTON Died November 14th
possession to the murders. Police also retrieved clothing that appeared to have blood stains on them from his vehi- cle and his cell phone records showed that he was in the area when three of the four murders took place.
Donaldson did not con- fess to the murders. He has been held at the Hillsborough County Jail without bond since his arrest.
About Donaldson Donaldson attended the public schools of Hillsbor- ough County. He graduated from Alonso High School in
2011.
Donaldson continued
his education at St. John’s University. While at the pri- vate, Catholic institution, he was a walk-on basketball player for the school for a year. He also earned his de- gree and graduated from the university.
Prior to his arrest, Don- aldson had no prior police records.
UNCLE SANDY
Sometimes we’re tested not to show our weak- nesses, 4, 18, 29, 34, 53, but to discover our strengths, 8, 19, 32, 44, 64.
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