2 dead in ‘apparent murder-suicide’ in Tampa apartment, police say

TAMPA — Police said Friday the two bodies found in an apartment days earlier belonged to a 22-year-old man and a 53-year-old man, and that they appeared to have died in a murder-suicide.

Officers on Tuesday responded to the Mobley Park Apartments at 401 E Seventh Ave. for a welfare check around 5 p.m., police said. When Tampa officers arrived, they found two people dead.

At the time, the agency said it was conducting a death investigation, but that it appeared to be an isolated event. In an update on Wednesday, police said the medical examiner’s office had not yet identified the men and investigators still were working to determine a cause of death.

Then on Friday, the Tampa Police Department released more information, saying the two men knew each other, and the deaths appeared to be a murder-suicide.

Police did not release the names of the two men, their relationship to each other or their cause of death.

Their deaths mark at least the eighth suspected murder-suicide involving people from the Tampa Bay area in 2022. The last apparent murder-suicide occurred about a month ago in Wesley Chapel, where a man was suspected of killing his brother and then himself, according to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

Need help?

If you are in immediate danger from domestic violence, call 911. The Florida Coalition of Domestic Violence can be reached at 800-500-1119 or via TDD at 800-621-4202. Here’s how to reach Tampa Bay’s domestic violence agencies for help:

Hillsborough County: Call or text The Spring of Tampa Bay’s 24-hour crisis line at 813-247-7233 or visit online at thespring.org. The TTY line is 813-248-1050.

Pasco County: Contact Sunrise of Pasco County via its 24-hour hotline at 1-888-668-7273 or 352-521-3120, or go online at www.sunrisepasco.org.

Pinellas County: Contact Community Action Stops Abuse, or CASA, by calling the 24-hour hotline at 727-895-4912, texting casa-stpete.org/chat or by visiting casapinellas.org. The TTY line is 727-828-1269.

If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, reach out to the 24–hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255; contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741; or chat with someone online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org. The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay can be reached by dialing 211 or by visiting crisiscenter.com.