2 suspects in fatal Ybor City shooting make 1st court appearances
YBOR CITY, Fla. - Two of the suspects in the Ybor City shooting are being held without bond until at least next week.
This week, Kayden Abney, 14, was charged with second-degree murder in the death of 20-year-old Harrison Boonstoppel.
Dwayne Tillman, 21, has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly firing into the crowd in the early morning of October 29th.
Two people were killed in the shooting, while 16 others were hurt.
Both suspects made their first court appearances on Friday. Abney will be held without bond until his next hearing on Tuesday, December 12. Tillman is due back on Friday, December 15.
Brucie Boonstoppel was awoken at 3:30 that morning and rushed to Tampa General Hospital, where she found her son, Harrison, didn't make it.
Kayden Abney makes his first court appearance after being arrested in connection to an Ybor City shooting.
His ashes were delivered the same day police announced they had tied the bullet found in Harrison to the gun fired by Kayden Abney.
The next day, police charged Dwayne Tillman with attempted murder for firing into the crowd, though they couldn't yet say if anyone was injured.
"It showed that people are coming forward and people are being affected instead of letting it be another shooting," said Boonstoppel.
21-year-old Dwayne Tillman, Jr., makes his first court appearance after being arrested in connection to an Ybor City shooting.
Prosecutors are still looking through 1,700 video clips from cell phones and surveillance cameras to piece together as much as possible.
"It's a long process, but it's a process that we will hopefully have to only do one time," said State Attorney Suzy Lopez. "We want to get it right."
The court process could take years, and they hope it will include at least one more suspect.
Tyrell Phillips, 22, is already charged with killing a fourteen-year-old in the shooting. But they're still looking for at least one more shooter.
"I'm not prepared to live my life without my son.," said Boonstoppel. "(But) I will do it. And part of my healing process, and it's not even a healing. It's not getting through something because it's with us, you know?"
Phillips is in the court system already, and his next court date is set for February 1, 2024.
The case is being prosecuted by the head of the state attorney's gun violence unit.