St. John's alum is Seminole Heights serial killer: Tampa police
COPS ALLEGE HOWELL DONALDSON III IS THE MAN WHO GUNNED DOWN FOUR
by Christopher Barca / Associate Editor | Posted: Tuesday, November 28, 2017 11:17 pm
Tampa police are confident the recent St. John's University graduate whom officers arrested Tuesday afternoon is the Seminole Heights serial killer.
Police Chief Brian Dugan announced in an 11 p.m. press conference that 24-year-old Howell "Trai" Donaldson III has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder in connection with four slayings since October.
Dugan did not go into detail regarding Donaldson's background, but the Tampa native's social media profiles reveal that he attended St. John's from 2011 to 2015, when he graduated with a degree in sports management.
He was also a walk-on with the university's basketball team from 2011 to 2013. While he never played in a game, a photo and some biographical data for Donaldson appear on the team's website.
According to his LinkedIn page, he then worked as a student marketing assistant at St. John's from graduation until May 2016, when he began working as a guest experience host with the New York Mets for the remainder of the 2016 baseball season.
His LinkedIn page indicates he relocated back to Florida in January, when he took a job at a medical academy. His Facebook profile said his most recent job was at a Tampa-area shoe store.
Neither St. John's nor the Mets immediately issued a public statement about Donaldson.
According to media reports, Donaldson allegedly walked into a Tampa-area McDonald's early Tuesday afternoon — where he may have been previously employed, according to Dugan — and asked the manager to hold his fully loaded firearm while he went to a nearby check-cashing location.
The manager then called the authorities. Officers were already waiting for Donaldson at the fast food restaurant when he returned.
The St. John's graduate is alleged to have murdered four people within a one-mile radius in the Seminole Heights section of Tampa over the last six weeks.
The first victim, 22-year-old Benjamin Mitchell, was shot to death at a bus stop at 9 p.m. on Oct. 9. Three days later, a landscaping crew stumbled across the body of 32-year-old Monica Hoffa in an overgrown field, hours after she was gunned down while walking to a friend's house.
She was found a half-mile from where Mitchell was killed.
Shortly after 8 p.m. on Oct. 19, 20-year-old Anthony Naiboa — a middle school classmate of Mitchell's — was slain as he walked down the street. His life ended one block away from where Mitchell's did.
It was a case of wrong place, wrong time for Naiboa. He was shot just after getting off a bus he mistakenly took in an effort to get home.
After a break of a few weeks, Donaldson allegedly murdered 60-year-old Ronald Felton at 5 a.m. on Nov. 14, just blocks away from the other killings. Felton was gunned down as he walked to his church, where he cooked food for homeless families twice a week.
According to police, Donaldson does not have a criminal record and no motive has been established.
At Tuesday's press conference, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said he hopes Donaldson "rots in hell."
"Tonight, goodness has won. In the battle between darkness and light, light has won," Buckhorn said. "Tonight is the beginning of when justice will be served. Tonight, we’re bringing someone to justice who doesn’t deserve to walk among us."
Another press conference has been scheduled by the Tampa PD for 10 a.m. Wednesday. This story will be updated as more details are released.
http://m.qchron.com/mobile/editions...cle_3866c620-d4bc-11e7-a0e4-3ff1c057ae02.html
COPS ALLEGE HOWELL DONALDSON III IS THE MAN WHO GUNNED DOWN FOUR
by Christopher Barca / Associate Editor | Posted: Tuesday, November 28, 2017 11:17 pm
Tampa police are confident the recent St. John's University graduate whom officers arrested Tuesday afternoon is the Seminole Heights serial killer.
Police Chief Brian Dugan announced in an 11 p.m. press conference that 24-year-old Howell "Trai" Donaldson III has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder in connection with four slayings since October.
Dugan did not go into detail regarding Donaldson's background, but the Tampa native's social media profiles reveal that he attended St. John's from 2011 to 2015, when he graduated with a degree in sports management.
He was also a walk-on with the university's basketball team from 2011 to 2013. While he never played in a game, a photo and some biographical data for Donaldson appear on the team's website.
According to his LinkedIn page, he then worked as a student marketing assistant at St. John's from graduation until May 2016, when he began working as a guest experience host with the New York Mets for the remainder of the 2016 baseball season.
His LinkedIn page indicates he relocated back to Florida in January, when he took a job at a medical academy. His Facebook profile said his most recent job was at a Tampa-area shoe store.
Neither St. John's nor the Mets immediately issued a public statement about Donaldson.
According to media reports, Donaldson allegedly walked into a Tampa-area McDonald's early Tuesday afternoon — where he may have been previously employed, according to Dugan — and asked the manager to hold his fully loaded firearm while he went to a nearby check-cashing location.
The manager then called the authorities. Officers were already waiting for Donaldson at the fast food restaurant when he returned.
The St. John's graduate is alleged to have murdered four people within a one-mile radius in the Seminole Heights section of Tampa over the last six weeks.
The first victim, 22-year-old Benjamin Mitchell, was shot to death at a bus stop at 9 p.m. on Oct. 9. Three days later, a landscaping crew stumbled across the body of 32-year-old Monica Hoffa in an overgrown field, hours after she was gunned down while walking to a friend's house.
She was found a half-mile from where Mitchell was killed.
Shortly after 8 p.m. on Oct. 19, 20-year-old Anthony Naiboa — a middle school classmate of Mitchell's — was slain as he walked down the street. His life ended one block away from where Mitchell's did.
It was a case of wrong place, wrong time for Naiboa. He was shot just after getting off a bus he mistakenly took in an effort to get home.
After a break of a few weeks, Donaldson allegedly murdered 60-year-old Ronald Felton at 5 a.m. on Nov. 14, just blocks away from the other killings. Felton was gunned down as he walked to his church, where he cooked food for homeless families twice a week.
According to police, Donaldson does not have a criminal record and no motive has been established.
At Tuesday's press conference, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said he hopes Donaldson "rots in hell."
"Tonight, goodness has won. In the battle between darkness and light, light has won," Buckhorn said. "Tonight is the beginning of when justice will be served. Tonight, we’re bringing someone to justice who doesn’t deserve to walk among us."
Another press conference has been scheduled by the Tampa PD for 10 a.m. Wednesday. This story will be updated as more details are released.
http://m.qchron.com/mobile/editions...cle_3866c620-d4bc-11e7-a0e4-3ff1c057ae02.html
