Report details fatal gunfight between St. Petersburg plastic surgeon, brother

Christopher Newman and his younger brother Reid Newman were close.

Reid Newman moved to Florida a couple of years ago to be near his brother, a St. Petersburg plastic surgeon who owned a home near Brooksville. Reid Newman and his wife and son moved to that Hernando County property and the brothers spent time there together.

Sometimes, though, they argued, family members would later tell investigators. When his temper flared, Reid Newman had threatened to get his gun but had never acted on those warnings.

But one Friday night in January, Reid Newman hurled the same threat during a fight with his brother at the Hernando County property and this time followed through, records show, leading to a gun battle that claimed both men’s lives.

Details of the Jan. 6 shootout, including witness accounts, are included in a Hernando County Sheriff’s Office investigation report obtained by the Tampa Bay Times through a public records request.

The Times previously reported that Christopher Newman, 48, died on Jan. 12, and that his death came six days after deputies responded to a shooting call at the Hernando property he and his wife, Rose, own. The sheriff’s office at the time declined to release the names of the two people who died in the shooting or other details, citing Marsy’s Law and an ongoing investigation.

The investigation closed last month with detectives concluding that Reid Newman, 46, was “the primary aggressor during the verbal, physical and gun fights,” the report states.

Christopher Newman, whose name is redacted from the report because investigators concluded he was the victim, “had no duty to retreat as he was lawful in protecting himself and others from Reid during this incident.”

A witness told detectives that the living arrangement that had brought the two brothers closer sparked the argument that ended in gunfire.

A family dinner, then a fight

That night began with a family meal at a Mexican restaurant.

Reid Newman’s wife, Brianna, told investigators that she, her husband and their teen son met Christopher Newman and another woman whose name is redacted from the report for dinner at Alejandro’s in Brooksville. Then they all headed to the Newmans’ property on Griffin Road, southeast of the city.

According to statements from family members and Reid Newman’s obituary, he and Brianna moved to Florida from Mississippi in 2021 in part to be closer to Christopher Newman. Reid, Brianna and their son moved to the Griffin Road property. They arranged for Reid to help take care of the 10-acre property, which features a ranch-style house separated into a main living area and a mother-in-law style residence.

After the family returned from dinner, Brianna Newman went to sleep on a couch and the teen son went inside to play video games. The brothers and the unnamed woman went to hang out around a fire pit in the backyard.

There, the brothers started talking about Reid Newman’s finances, the woman said. Reid Newman said he wasn’t happy in Florida, that his new career as a real estate agent was not working out and that he was thinking of moving back to Mississippi.

The woman said Christopher offered to pay Reid $2,500 a month to take care of the property but Reid would have to pay $2,500 a month in rent. That upset Reid Newman, who began to yell and curse at Christopher, the woman said. Reid then shoved Christopher, who tackled his brother.

According to the woman, Reid told his brother, “When I get up from here, I’m going to get my gun and shoot you!”

“Oh, go do it, big boy,” Christopher Newman replied, the woman said. She said Christopher Newman tried to keep his brother on the ground but he broke free and went to his part of the house.

The woman said she and Christopher Newman also headed to the house and got to the back patio when Reid Newman started shooting in their direction. They took cover behind a couch, then retreated to a hallway. The woman said Christopher Newman told her to stay in the hall while he got his gun from another room and confronted Reid.

The woman heard more shots. When the shooting stopped, she said, she left the hallway and found Christopher Newman crawling on his hands and knees. He told her to dial 911.

Deputies found both brothers lying near a doorway to the back patio. A deputy could not find Reid Newman’s pulse. Christopher Newman was still conscious and said he and his brother had gotten into an argument and shot each other.

Paramedics pronounced Reid Newman dead at 11:35 p.m. His brother was flown by medical helicopter to HCA Florida Bayonet Point Hospital.

Deputies found both semi-automatic pistols, a Glock 34 and Taurus G2C, on a table in an office, where the unnamed woman had placed them.

An autopsy found Reid Newman had been shot four times, including one round that struck him in the neck and severed a carotid artery. Other rounds hit him in the thigh, hand and lower back.

Christopher Newman was shot three times, in the chest, abdomen and hand.

The Newmans’ mother, Cheryl Strang, and stepfather, Dale Strang, were staying in an RV on the property but were not there when the shooting happened, according to the report. The Strangs told deputies that about 10 minutes before the shooting, Reid Newman called them and asked when they were going to be home so they could hang out together around the fire. He sounded happy, they said.

But Cheryl Strang also told investigators that Reid Newman had always felt inferior to his brother and had gone into a deep depression recently because he was not working. At one point, she said, Reid told her he “just wanted to die.” She said Reid had a temper and in the past, during arguments, had threatened to get his gun but never did.

Efforts to reach the Strangs and Brianna Newman for this story were not successful.

Rose Newman, who was not at the house when the shooting happened, declined to speak to detectives about the case and declined through her attorney to comment for this story.

Buried together

By early the following week, a sign had been taped to the door of Christopher Newman’s office on Ninth Avenue North in St. Petersburg saying the practice was temporarily closed. A message posted on the office’s social media pages and signed by Rose Newman said her husband was admitted to the intensive care unit of a local hospital on Jan. 6. It provided no details about what happened.

The next morning, Jan. 12, the sheriff’s office announced that the second man involved in the shooting had died. Later that day, a note from Rose Newman announcing her husband’s death appeared on his practice’s social media pages.

“I know this news brings much sorrow, but let us all allow Chris’ light to shine through ourselves and celebrate the opportunity to know a man who brought so much love and joy into so many lives,” the note said.

A joint service and burial for the brothers was held in January in Mississippi, where the family has a plot, according to public posts on Cheryl Strang’s Facebook page.

The obituary for Chris Newman, whose survivors include one son and three grandchildren, said he established his plastic surgery practice with Rose in 2010 and in 2020, built “his dream office with the help of his brother Reid, using the skills their father taught them in construction.”

“There is peace knowing he is in heaven fishing with his father and brother again,” Christopher’s obituary said.

Reid Newman’s obituary said the father of three moved to Florida in part to be closer to Christopher and enjoyed spearfishing with him and “cowboying together.”

“Reid was a loving husband, a wonderful father, a terrific son, and a good sibling,” the obituary said.