Page 41 - Florida Sentinel 7-2-21

Crime
Man Gets Life For Killing Ex-Girlfriend, Daughter
Man Shot Several Times At Apartment Complex
The unidentified man was reportedly shot while at the Windermere Apartments Complex in Clair Mel.
MS. KENYATTA BARRON 11/13/1984 — 3/18/2018
On Monday, a panel of ju- rists were given the task of finding Ronnie O’Neal, III, guilty of killing his for- mer girlfriend 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 murder, one count of at- tempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated child abuse, one count of arson, and one count of re- sisting a law enforcement of- ficer without violence.
The case now moves to the penalty phase and the Hillsborough County State Attorney’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 him- self in the double murder trial.
Among the witnesses in the case was O’Neal’s bio- logical 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 detectives who worked on the case.
Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren said, “These mur- ders are among the most cruel and vicious our com- munity has ever seen. Sitting in the courtroom with the victims’ family, hearing a mother’s screams, seeing the horrific pictures of her daughter — it’s hard to fathom how someone can do something so barbaric. his punishment — his life — now sits with a jury of his peers, as it should.”
RON’NIVEYA O’NEAL 7/29/2008 — 3/18/2018
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 daughter, 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 escaped and testified re- motely during the trial. He was given ongoing support and counseling from experts in pediatric mental health.
Assistant State Attorneys
Ronald Gale, Scott Har- mon, and Luis Aguila prosecuted the case.
To sentence 32-year-old O’Neal to death, a recom- mendation of death from the jury must be unanimous, and the judge must then agree. If any of the 12 jurors does not recommend 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 re- ceived a 9-1-1 call.
The dispatcher received the call from an unidentified woman. During the call, the female caller repeatedly pleaded for help and told the dispatcher that she’s been shot. When asked where she was, the caller provided a partial address of “1234”, when an unknown male can be overheard in the back- ground yelling, “Allah Akbar!”
The female caller appar- ently stated, “I’m so sorry
RONNIE O’NEAL, III Convicted of double murder
Ronnie,” with loud scream- ing coming from the same fe- male. An unknown male in the background can be over- heard stating, “She killed me” and then directed a supposed neighbor, “Don’t come out- side, call 9-1-1 now,” police said.
The woman could no longer be heard and the call ended. She was later identi- fied as Ms. Kenyatta Bar- ron.
A few minutes later, an- other 9-1-1 call was received from an unknown male caller. The caller is alleged to have said, “I’ve just been at- tacked by some white demons.” He continued to tell the dispatcher, “Her name is Ke-Ke and she tried to kill me and I just killed her.” He then gave the dis- patcher the address.
When the dispatcher asked the man if Ke-Ke tried to attack him, he said, “Yes, she tried to kill me!”
Deputies found a Black fe- male adult, lying in the front yard. As they began to give her first aid, the Hillsborough County Fire Rescue (HCFR) also arrived on scene.
As they were doing so, they observed what they be- lieved to be a fire, starting within the residence. The deputies then directed their attention to the residence and forced entry into the structure.
They found the body of Ron’Niveya O’Neal, and her 8-year-old brother, Ron- nie, IV, walked out of the garage. He had been stabbed several times and had burns on various parts of his body.
Ronnie O’Neal walked out of the garage and towards the deputies.
Detectives are currently investigating a shooting that left a man injured. The shoot- ing took place Monday after- noon.
According to the Hillsbor- ough County Sheriff’s Office, the shooting took place around 2:45 p.m., at the Win- dermere Apartment Complex, 9474 Windermere Lake Drive.
When deputies arrived at
the scene, they located an adult man suffering from gunshot injuries to the upper body. Hillsborough County Fire Rescue responded to the scene and transported the vic- tim to a local hospital.
Police have released no additional information on the victim and no arrests have been made.
The investigation is con- tinuing.
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