TAMPA — The case of Howell Donaldson, the man accused of committing four murders in Tampa’s southeast Seminole Heights neighborhood in 2017, will be the subject of four separate trials, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Attorneys for Donaldson argued in a morning court hearing that each of the four crimes was distinct in time, location and circumstances. Testimony and evidence of one crime could bolster the proof of the others, resulting in an unfair trial, they said.
“It’s our position that there is no meaningful relationship between these offenses or these victims,” Assistant Public Defender Dana Herce-Fulgueira said in court.
Prosecutors argued that the crimes were part of one continuous spree, that all four killings occurred less than a mile apart, and that they were committed with the same weapon. The similar circumstances justify a single trial, they said.
After hearing arguments from both sides, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Samantha Ward said she would grant the request to split the case into four trials.
The judge’s decision was a significant victory for the defense, led by Hillsborough Public Defender Julianne Holt. It presents a significant challenge for the prosecution, which will have to prove each individual murder case to four separate juries, without revealing evidence of the other crimes.
“It’s going to make it harder,” Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren told reporters afterward. “But make no mistake, it doesn’t change our resolve.”
Donaldson, 27, faces four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Benjamin Mitchell, Monica Hoffa, Anthony Naiboa and Ronald Felton. The four were shot over the course of several weeks in southeast Seminole Heights in October and November 2017.
On Nov. 28, 2017, a manager at the Ybor City McDonald’s where Donaldson worked notified police after he handed her a bag that contained a .40 caliber Glock handgun. She said Donaldson told her to hold the bag while he went to run an errand.
A firearms expert later opined that bullet shell casings found at the scene of each homicide were fired from the Glock, according to court records. Donaldson admitted the weapon was his, police said, but denied involvement in the murders.
In court, Herce-Fulgueira highlighted numerous differences in the facts of each crime. The victims did not know each other. They were different ages, different races and genders. They were killed at different times and in different places throughout the Seminole Heights neighborhood in the span of 36 days.
She added that the fact that the same gun may have been used is not enough to tie the cases together. She also pointed to similar cases involving multiple separate crimes, which resulted in separate trials.
Assistant State Attorney Scott Harmon emphasized the relatively short distance between all of the murder scenes, the same brand of bullet shell casings found at each and the relatively short time period between the killings, among other similarities.
He cited case law from a handful of notorious murder cases in which there were multiple victims. One of them was the Tallahassee case of notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, who one night in 1978 attacked four women, killing two, in a Florida State University sorority house, then attacked a fifth woman in an apartment a few blocks away about an hour later. A single trial was held for that set of crimes.
The circumstances of the Seminole Heights killings, Harmon said, “intermesh and interweave these crimes in a fashion where they should be joined.”
Warren said his office respectfully disagreed with the judge’s decision, and that they would have to consider whether they would appeal.
The state has said it intends to seek the death penalty if Donaldson is convicted.
This is a developing story, check back with TampaBay.com for updates.
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Tampa’s Seminole Heights killings to be subject of four trials, judge rules - Tampa Bay Times
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