But on Thursday, he emphasized his office has sought new death sentences in three. Since he was elected as the county’s top prosecutor last year, Warren has withdrawn from the death penalty in seven of the 24 capital cases he inherited. Warren said he would seek capital punishment if the case meets all legal requirements and is consistent with what the victims’ families want. … Unfortunately, they’re going to suffer the loss of a son, like we lost a daughter. "I know they’re experiencing everything we’re experiencing. He also expressed empathy for Donaldson’s relatives. Her father, Kenny Hoffa, said later that he trusted Warren’s office to make the right decisions in the case. On Thursday morning, eight of Hoffa’s family members packed a second-row bench behind a throng of reporters in Taylor’s courtroom. The victims were Benjamin Mitchell, 22 Monica Hoffa, 32 Anthony Naiboa, 20 and Ronald Felton, 60. They later said the gun was the same one used in the string of killings, which began Oct. The employee summoned police, who detained Donaldson as they examined the weapon.
SEMINOLE HEIGHTS SERIAL KILLER VICTIMS SERIAL
"The death penalty should be reserved for the worst of the worst offenders in our society," he said, "and, generally speaking, a serial killer would qualify."ĭonaldson, 24, was arrested early Wednesday, hours after he gave a bag that held a gun to a fellow employee of an Ybor City McDonald’s. Many wanted to know: Would Warren seek the death penalty?Īt a news conference that followed the hearing, Warren said he might. Miles away in a packed Tampa courtroom, State Attorney Andrew Warren was among those who watched the brief first appearance for the man accused in four shootings that terrorized Tampa’s Southeast Seminole Heights neighborhood for 51 days.
SEMINOLE HEIGHTS SERIAL KILLER VICTIMS TV
He said nothing as a judge explained via a closed-circuit TV that he faces four counts of first-degree murder. “They’re learning different things, they change things to adapt to different circumstances, such as having more police in the area.TAMPA - Howell Donaldson stepped beside his lawyer looking haggard, his wrists clasped in chains, his body wrapped in a green anti-suicide smock. “The modus operandi, while usually pretty consistent, it’s evolving,” says Fox. Already, the killer has seemed to change his usual timing of attack, with the first three killings taking place in the evening and the recent one having occurred in the early morning. She also encourages people in and outside of Seminole Heights to exercise caution, because the killer may change his tactics. “They’re trying to regain some power and control in how they feel about themselves and the most extreme way to do that is by taking the life of another,” said Fox. Fox, however, sees that as fairly unlikely, citing the consistent pattern of location and modus operandi as significant tellers on it being only one killer.įox says that most serial killers are motivated by a sense of powerlessness over their own life. In Fox’s opinion, the suspect is a male, probably younger in age, between the ages of 20-35, and is likely very familiar with the area, as a lot of other serial killers are more mobile.Įxperts say serial killings are defined as three or more murders that all seem to share the same M.O.– modus operandi (method in which the killings occur) with a cooling-off period in between.īy definition, the Seminole Heights situation is a serial killing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s only one perpetrator. “We’re not seeing that in this case.”Īnother unusual aspect about the Seminole Heights shooter, she says, is that he doesn’t seem to have much interaction with his victims prior to killing them. “(Serial killers) tend to pick a type and then stay with that type across their victims,” said Fox. The victims also vary in terms of race, age, and gender, which are critical demographics law enforcement tend to see are normally steady among serial killers. “(They) often like to pre-select their victims because that’s something they get a lot of enjoyment out of.”įox compared serial killers picking their victims to how one would pick and plan out their vacation the Seminole Heights shooter is operating in a way that is akin to going to the airport and choosing the next flight out. “We don’t often see serial killers selecting victims completely at random,” said Fox. Credit USF Department of Criminology Bryanna Foxīryanna Fox, an assistant professor of criminology at the University of South Florida, and a former special agent at the F.B.I, says that as far as serial killers go, this is a very unique case.