TAMPA, Fla. — Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren announced Tuesday Florida will seek the death penalty against the accused Seminole Heights killer, Howell Donaldson, III.
"The law is clear, the death penalty is reserved for the most aggravated and least mitigated capitol offenses, this case in which the defendant murdered four innocent victims, in a cold, calculated and pre-meditated manner, qualifies" said State Attorney Andrew Warren.
Howell Emanuel Donaldson III is accused of killing four people over a span of six weeks in the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa. He was booked into jail on November 29 and charged with four counts of First-Degree murder in connection to the murders of Benjamin Mitchell, Monica Hoffa, Anthony Naiboa and Ronald Felton.
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Scripps sister station WFTS in Tampa spoke with Tampa Mayor Buckhorn last week at an event where he recognized the woman credited with helping police catch Donaldson. He said he would be extremely disappointed if the State didn't pursue the death penalty.
"If that jury comes back and says that this young man is guilty, he deserves the same level of sympathy that he gave to those victims," Buckhorn said.