Tony MarreroHillsborough Law Enforcement Reporter
A Baltimore native, I've lived in the Tampa Bay area since 1998 and have been a reporter here for nearly that long. I joined the Times in 2009 and have covered beats ranging from from education to criminal courts. I now cover breaking news and general assignment stories in the Tampa bureau, which means I never know exactly what will come my way on any given day. I like that variety and enjoy digging to tell readers more about the big stories of the day.
/s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/tbt/30841d7b-bd23-4841-9d1d-8170ea76fc4a.png "Tony Marrero - Hillsborough Law Enforcement Reporter")
![Tampa police said Timothy McGovern admitted to shooting Nabil Sarah under the overpass at Hillsborough Avenue and Dale Mabry Highway on Nov. 6. Sarah, who was homeless, died on the sidewalk where he often slept. McGovern was arrested on a first degree murder charge.](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 562 316"/%3E "Tampa police said Timothy McGovern admitted to shooting Nabil Sarah under the overpass at Hillsborough Avenue and Dale Mabry Highway on Nov. 6. Sarah, who was homeless, died on the sidewalk where he often slept. McGovern was arrested on a first degree murder charge.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/GP3BSDD2XFGV5ACSHBVHBOPLPQ.jpg "Tampa police said Timothy McGovern admitted to shooting Nabil Sarah under the overpass at Hillsborough Avenue and Dale Mabry Highway on Nov. 6. Sarah, who was homeless, died on the sidewalk where he often slept. McGovern was arrested on a first degree murder charge.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/7ZN6ULZGUVCCHJP3OXHPOMKBNU.JPG "Acting Tampa police Chief Lee Bercaw, who replaced former Tampa police Chief Mary O'Connor, is interviewed at the Tampa Municipal Office Building on Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, in Tampa. Chief Mary O’Connor resigned Monday after an investigation showed she violated department policies during a traffic stop when she flashed her badge and asked an officer to let her and her husband go.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/EXPQL4SFBRDEDG2JOHYL3DUDLE.jpg "A screenshot from video recorded by a Pinellas deputy's body camera on Nov. 12 shows Tampa police Chief Mary O'Connor and her husband, Keith, during a traffic stop. O'Connor identified herself as chief, pulled out her badge and asked the deputy to \"just let us go\" when told they'd been pulled over for not having a tag on the golf cart while he was driving on a public road.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/QF6MGVKGONDLTHNNTU3ASDZWPE.JPG "La jefa de policía de Tampa, Mary O'Connor.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/ZIF4CAMR5REVHA2M7BCH5MPUOY.JPG "Crime scene tape is tied to a St. Petersburg police vehicle at the scene of a deadly shooting in February 2021. Florida’s crime rate fell to a 50-year low in 2021, state officials announced this week along with the release of a report showing decreases in both violent crime and property crime. But experts say the report comes with big caveats.")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/TKBB3BQCINE6RBBICZ3D6ZLFXA.jpg "Dustin McCann, 30, is pictured in a booking photo from DeSoto County. McCann was arrested Tuesday on multiple charges stemming from an incident a night earlier at the SoHo Saloon in South Tampa. Police said McCann used a racist slur toward a security guard and as he drove away fired multiple shots into the air while shouting \"white power.\"")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/O5OOO6DQ4ZAAXK7BRFSVD24LQE.jpg "A portion of the St. Mark Village retirement community on Nebraska Avenue in Palm Harbor is seen in a Google image from 2021. A 43-year-old worker at the community died Thursday when he fell while hanging holiday lights in a tree, deputies said.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/4QXYMTZYFBHTHHQXFRXZ5CPKTI.jpeg "Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bruce Bartlett penned a letter to St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway on Monday stating that a St. Petersburg officer was justified in fatally shooting a man on Sept. 12.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/3AZTA3FGXBBKHAEPOOFLH5UEPE.jpg "Noticias en tu idioma en CENTRO Tampa")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/R5QRGPUEN5D7DCD72WAQPXEJSY.jpg "Laci Gilileo, de 15 años, recibió un disparo el 1 de noviembre mientras asistía a una fiesta en una casa en Thonotosassa. Los detectives siguen buscando pistas del público.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/23UNBDMOC5BW5EBVMYSJ3MSVHY.png "A 37-year-old man was arrested on a DUI manslaughter charge after causing a crash Thursday that led to the death of a 10-year-old boy riding with him on a motor scooter on Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa, police said.")
:focal(152x194:162x184):format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/R5QRGPUEN5D7DCD72WAQPXEJSY.jpg "Laci Mae Gilileo, pictured in a family photo provided by the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, was fatally shot on Nov. 1 while attending a Halloween party at a house in Thonotosassa, according to the Sheriff's Office. Gilileo, 15, was a student at Bloomingdale High School. The Sheriff's Office on Friday released her name with her family's permission and asked anyone with information about the shooting to call 813-247-8200.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/QQL3W3A5MZGLBDXNFN47NIOTPU.JPG "Power lines are pictured in a Venice neighborhood in this file photo from 2021. Two people in an Orlando neighborhood were electrocuted Thursday when they came into a contact with a downed power line as Tropical Storm Nicole moved through the area, according to the Orange County Sheriff's Office.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/XL3CKIVWFFAYREK5ACDOYAPQJE.jpg "An image from a Florida Department of Transportation traffic camera shows the Sunshine Skyway on Thursday. Troopers closed the bridge about 6:45 a.m. due to high winds from Tropical Storm Nicole.")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/H75DZV6HCVCPLKMS5BDOZRQDZQ.jpg "Timothy Scott McGovern, 29, of Tampa was arrested late Tuesday on a charge of first-degree murder with a firearm in connection to the fatal shooting of a man under the overpass at North Dale Mabry Highway and West Hillsborough Avenue.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/J4YFUHGKKQI6TODGIBWI6S7HAY.jpg "Hernando County school buses are seen in this 2019 file photo. Hernando officials announced Tuesday that schools will be closed on Thursday due to concerns about buses being on the road during high winds from Tropical Storm Nicole.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/5AUXR7CFX5FFBKBON64EZRQASA.jpg "A Pasco County schools bus driver negotiates a turn at the district's South Compound in Odessa in April. Pasco Superintendent Kurt Browning announced Tuesday that the school district would close on Thursday due Tropical Storm Nicole, mainly due to concerns about buses on the road during periods of high winds.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/V7ZYNKLE7VCITGXTPUAGVP6ZVU.jpg "Dozens of antisemitic flyers were discovered on the front lawns of residences in St. Petersburg’s Central Oak Park neighborhood over the weekend, police say.")
:format(webP)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/ZSJCZHETNFG65DV7GW363SUWEQ.jpg "Jontrell Willie Collins, 29, was arrested Sunday on a second-degree murder charge after his mother, 60-year-old Harriet Owens, was found dead in the St. Petersburg home they shared, police said.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/PXHKB6MX5ZEBVKAPD2I6WIHIOA.jpg "Members of the Florida House of Representatives begin the 60th day of the annual session in Tallahassee in 2020. The race for the House's new District 70 seat pits Republican incumbent Rep. Mike Beltran against Democrat Eleuterio “Junior” Salazar Jr.")
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tbt/T3K7LDQHVNGYTNVI3JRCXOP2VA.png "One person was killed and a second person injured when gunfire erupted at a Halloween party in Thonotosassa early Tuesday, deputies said.")
