TAMPA, FL (HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY) - A news report posted on tampabay.com states that a two-month investigation has lead to the arrest of a 29-year-old man on murder and attempted murder charges in connection to the murder of a 14-year-old boy. The 14-year-old boy was fatally hit by a car at the Carrollwood apartment complex back on February 7, 2021. The incident began with a Super Bowl fight and ended with a 14-year-old's death, deputies reported. The fight started between a Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan who got into an argument with two Kansas City Chiefs fans during the Super Bowl two months ago. According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the fight ended with the death of a 14-year-old boy who was struck and killed by a car.
The second suspect, a 29-year-old man, was arrested last Monday and was charged with attempted murder and murder criminal charges in connection to the murder of a 14-year-old boy at a Carrollwood apartment complex. According to Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, deputies stated that the suspect shot the woman who was driving the sedan at a Carrollwood apartment complex, causing the sedan to hit and kill the teenager.
The dispute between the fans provoked a fight that led the suspect to shoot a woman in the head as she was driving her Lexus sedan, the warrant asserts. The woman then lost control of her Lexus sedan and then ran over the 14-year-old boy.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the 29-year-old murder suspect was arrested at his Tampa residence. He has been charged with first-degree murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, and several additional felony criminal charges. The suspect was identified, in part, by his white Tampa Bay Buccaneer's jersey that he was wearing, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. The victim he shot was also wearing a Buccaneer's jersey. However, they were on opposite ends of the argument that occurred at Carrollwood apartments.
The 14-year-old boy's name was redacted from the arrest warrant. The warrant states that the argument began early in the evening when a 22-year-old delivered a pizza while wearing her Buccaneer's jersey. The pizza delivery woman encountered two women wearing Chiefs' jerseys who were smoking in the apartment complex's breezeway. The warrant stated that a verbal altercation happened between the parties over their teams. The pizza delivery woman recognized one of the Cheif's fans as an "acquaintance" of her sister, and she returned to the apartment complex with her sister and two additional people. The group knocked on the apartment door, and inside the apartment was a group of six people, including the suspect and the 14-year-old boy. The two groups began to argue, and the argument turned into a brawl that deputies described as "hand-to-hand combat." One of the fighters had a tire iron. The fight resulted in blood was spilled in the breezeway, on the stairs, and on the sidewalk. Plastic fingernails were also found in the apartment's parking lot, which is an indication of the intensity of the fight.
According to witnesses and stated in the arrest warrant, the suspect retrieved a gun from his car to his car and retrieved a gun, and hit another man in the face with the pistol. The fight ended, the woman got into her Lexus, started the vehicle's engine, and was about to leave. However, the suspect approached the Lexus driver's side window, and he shot the woman in the head. The shooting was witnessed by many people who were in the parking lot.
The arrest warrant states that witnesses told police that the suspect stated, "I just shot her, she is f--king dead." Witnesses stated that the woman's car's wheels began to start spinning and burning rubber. According to the warrant, the driver had been shot below her left ear by a .40-caliber bullet, and she was "in and out of consciousness," according to the warrant. Her car sped forward, and she ran over the 14-year-old boy with her vehicle pinning the boy underneath the car's tires as the car continued to burn rubber. The 14-year-old boy was part of the suspect's group, and the boy's cause of death was "traumatic asphyxiation."
The 911 call was received at around 11:20 PM. When the Sheriff's deputies arrived at the scene of the murder, a person had backed up the victim's car and took her to the Citrus Park Emergency Room.
The suspect left the apartment complex prior to the Sheriff's deputies arriving. Eyewitnesses chose the suspect's photo out of a lineup of photos, the warrant states. He was also pointed out from his Instagram photo that he posted the night of the murder, and he was wearing the say white Buccaneers jersey.
According to Sheriff's detectives, the suspect faces a murder charge because the suspect's actions caused the woman driver to run over the boy. The suspect has prior felony convictions.
The shooting victim was transported to the St. Joseph's Hospital intensive care unit, and trauma surgeons removed the bullet from her head on March 2, 2021. The arrest warrant did not state if any others have been arrested or if the Sherriff's deputies recovered the .40-caliber handgun. The suspect also faces criminal charges of shooting into a vehicle, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, being a felon in possession of a firearm, and violating his probation for cocaine trafficking conviction in 2018. The suspect is being held without bail at the Hillsborough County jail.