Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 1-23-18

Feature
Ceremony Held For Seminole Heights Investigation
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Last Wednesday, Mayor Bob Buckhorn and Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan held a cere- mony in the Seminole Heights case. The ceremony was to thank those involved who helped bring the case to a close with an arrest.
During the event, which was held at Ragan Park Community Center, 1200 E. Lake Avenue, Ms. Delanda Walker was given a standing ovation. Ms. Walker is the McDonald’s employee who gave police the gun used in the four murders.
More than two dozen people were recognized during the event. Mayor Buckhorn and Chief Dugan recognized individuals who helped by turning over sur- veillance video, donating to the re-
HOWELL EMANUEL DONALDSON, III
ward fund, and paying for bill- boards. In addition to the public recognition, those individuals were
also presented with a certificate, a bronze coin, and took a photo- graph with Mayor Buckhorn and Chief Dugan.
A series of murders took place beginning on October 9th, with Benjamin Mitchell, 22, in Seminole Heights. His murder was followed by that of Ms. Monica Hoffa, 32, on October 11th, and 20-year-old Anthony Naiboa, on October 19th. On November 14th, Ronald Felton, 60, became the last victim.
Police arrested 24-year-old
Howell Emanuel Donaldson, III, on November 30th. He was charged with four counts of first- degree murder. He is being held at the Hillsborough County Jail with- out bond.
On November 30th, Donald- son, who was an employee at the McDonald’s in Ybor City, handed
Ms. Walker a paper bag that con- tained a gun. Ms. Walker, who is a manager at the fast food estab- lishment, alerted a police officer who was in the restaurant.
Ms. Walker was also given the reward being offered in the case of $110,000. The reward is one of the largest offered in a Tampa case.
Donaldson Hearing Earlier in the day, the Donald- son case was on the docket in the Hillsborough County Courthouse. The search warrants in the investi-
gations had been sealed.
After both the prosecutors and
the defense requested the records remain sealed, Circuit Judge Mark Wolfe agreed to keep the records sealed.
Donaldson is being repre- sented by the Hillsborough County Public Defender’s Office. No trial date has been set.
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