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Prosecutors release photographs documenting Seminole Heights killings investigation

 
A photo of a McDonald's food bag with a gun inside is one of  more than 2,000 photographs the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office released Monday documenting crime scenes and evidence in their case against Howell Emanuel Donaldson III, charged with four shooting deaths in southeast Seminole Heights. [Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office]
A photo of a McDonald's food bag with a gun inside is one of more than 2,000 photographs the Hillsborough State Attorney's Office released Monday documenting crime scenes and evidence in their case against Howell Emanuel Donaldson III, charged with four shooting deaths in southeast Seminole Heights. [Hillsborough County State Attorney's Office]
Published Aug. 1, 2018

TAMPA — The Hillsborough State Attorney's Office released thousands of photographs Monday documenting crime scenes and evidence in their case against Howell Emanuel Donaldson III, the man charged with four shooting deaths in southeast Seminole Heights.

The collection includes images of the four murder scenes and spent silver bullet shell casings that littered the ground at each. The casings were part of what led detectives to conclude that the crimes were the work of the same killer.

Donaldson, 25, is accused in the deaths of Benjamin Mitchell, Monica Hoffa, Anthony Naiboa, and Ronald Felton. Each of the four was shot in October and November while walking alone in southeast Seminole Heights.

PHOTO GALLERY Evidence in Seminole Heights killings case

Police hunted a killer, drawing international attention to the Tampa neighborhood. The attention culminated with the Nov. 28 arrest of Donaldson, 25, after he handed a bag that held a gun to a manager at the Ybor City McDonald's where he worked.

Photos of the bag and the gun are among the images released Monday. There are also several pictures of the defendant. Detectives took close-up shots of tattoos on Donaldson's upper body and several images of him wearing a white police-issued suit after his clothing was seized as evidence.

Crime scene technicians also documented pieces of clothing packed in luggage police found in Donaldson's Ford Mustang. They took particular interest in a hooded jacket and a gray hooded sweatshirt that appeared similar to clothing the suspected killer was seen wearing in surveillance videos.

Other photos show a boarding pass for a JetBlue flight from Tampa to Newark, N.J., dated Nov. 25, 2017, and a return flight the following day. Previously released materials indicate that Donaldson flew to New York that day and visited the campus of St. John's University, where he had recently graduated.

To view a selection of the photos, visit the All Eyes blog at www.tampabay.com/blogs/alleyes1.

Contact Dan Sullivan at dsullivan@tampabay.com. Follow @TimesDan

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