Suspected Seminole Heights serial killer Howell Trae Donaldson pleads guilty to 4 murders
SEMINOLE HEIGHTS, Fla. - The man accused of killing four people in Seminole Heights five and a half years ago has pleaded guilty to the murders.
Howell Trae Donaldson was in court on Monday morning to ask a judge to toss key evidence in the case when he changed his plea to guilty.
Donaldson’s lawyers were expected to ask a judge to toss out potential key evidence against Donaldson, including the murder weapon.
Donaldson is accused of causing terror and panic in Seminole Heights in October 2017. They say he gunned down four innocent people who happen to be walking alone.
Howell is accused of gunning down four innocent people, Benjamin Mitchell, Monica Hoffa, Anthony Naiboa, and Ronald Felton, who happen to be walking alone.
Benjamin Mitchell, Monica Hoffa, Anthony Naiboa, and Ronald Felton were randomly targeted when they were shot and killed.
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Donaldson was arrested at an Ybor City McDonald's, which is where he worked when the manager turned over the food bag with a .40 caliber Glock handgun. Prosecutors said Donaldson gave the manager the bag for her to hold.
His guilty pleas come nearly six years after back and forth between the state and his defense team for the 2017 slayings.
READ: Murder victim’s parents banned from testifying at accused Seminole Heights serial killer’s trial
Donaldson also spoke during Monday’s hearing to acknowledge that he was entering a guilty plea on all four counts of murder. He also said he understood the impact of pleading guilty.
Before making the surprise announcement, the defense said Donaldson suffers from schizophrenia.
Suspect Seminole Heights serial killer Howell Trae Donaldson pleaded guilty while in court on Monday.
Following his guilty plea, prosecutors took everyone in the courtroom through the slayings.
Friends and family of the victims were present and cried as they relived the murders that took place six years ago.
The family members also spoke directly to Donaldson and told him how his actions destroyed their families.
Hillsborough State Attorney Suzy Lopez held a press conference hours after the bombshell plea deal.
She says Donaldson’s team came to the state weeks ago and made the offer that he would plead guilty in exchange for pulling the death penalty off the table.
Lopez explained that the first thing she did was talk to the victim’s families to get their approval to accept the deal.
"We explained to them what life in avoidance of the death penalty means. We explained that in Florida there is no parole that he can be sentenced to. He will stay in the Florida state prison until he dies…They are seeking finality in this and they wanted us to accept this offer and it is because of that, and only because of that, that we did. He is a man who wreaked havoc on a small town in Tampa back in 2017. He killed four completely innocent people who he did not know in the wee hours of the morning. In the dark," Lopez stated.
Donaldson will receive four life sentences, which he will serve back-to-back without the possibility of parole.