Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren’s Thursday press conference announcing a “major development” in the Seminole Heights Killer case was short and sweet.
He walked in, spoke for maybe a minute and walked out without taking questions. The conference was streamed live over News Channel 8’s Facebook Live channel.
The gist: a grand jury has handed down four counts of premeditated murder with a firearm against Howell “Trai” Donaldson III, the suspect in the series of seemingly random murders of four residents of southeast Seminole Heights, who was arrested Nov. 29 after handing a loaded gun to a manager at the Ybor City McDonald’s where he worked.
“That means this is when the case formally begins,” Warren said.
He added that Donaldson will be arraigned before a judge on the charges Tuesday. That’s when Judge Mark Wolfe will read Donaldson his charges and Donaldson’s attorney will enter a plea.
Warren then urged the public to keep the victims’ families in their thoughts and promised to keep everyone updated as new developments in the case arise.
He thanked Tampa Police Department personnel for their work and briskly walked out, likely leaving gathered media and their audiences wondering about whether Warren would seek the death penalty for Donaldson despite his past reluctance to use it.
This article appears in Dec 7-14, 2017.
