Law&Crime Sidebar - ‘Pure Hell’: 6 Shocking Moments from Seminole Heights Serial Killer’s Sentencing

Episode Date: May 2, 2023

The Florida man who murdered four innocent people in the Seminole Heights of Tampa without a clear motive pleaded guilty to the serial killing spree Monday. Details of the brutal 2017 murders were revealed in court as Howell Emanuel "Trai" Donaldson awaited his sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The Law&Crime Network’s Jesse Weber breaks down six shocking moments from Donaldson’s sentencing.SUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaDevil In The DormThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. I wish you pure hell when you walk back into those gates and you into yourself. Again, I hope every night when you close your eyes, you dream of the four people that you killed. The Seminole Heights serial killer pleads guilty to murdering four people and the heartbreaking reactions from the victim's family members in court are really something to hear. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. I'm not sure how many of you have been following this case out of Tampa, Florida,

but the criminal case of Howell Donaldson III took a dramatic turn. Donaldson was labeled the Seminole Heights serial killer, the man who savagely shot and killed four people back in 2017, Benjamin Edward Mitchell, Monica Hoffa, Anthony Neboa, and Ronald Felton, random, unprovoked murders that occurred over the course of basically a month while the victims walked alone at night. And it shook the Seminole Heights community, Even Governor Rick Scott got involved at the time directing resources and officers to Seminole Heights to help the Tampa police.

There was a reward for information that went up to $100,000, a really big case. Well, Mr. Donaldson was arrested, and the evidence against him seemed to be pretty substantial. So first, Donaldson gave his manager at McDonald's that he worked a gun and says that he planned to leave Florida. that gun was actually connected to several of the killings. Then there was the cell phone data that placed him in the areas of several of these murders seemingly at times within minutes of the killings. And as you can imagine, given the circumstances of these slayings, prosecutors were seeking the death penalty. But then, what just happened after six years with a jury trial scheduled for August, Howell Donaldson III pled guilty to the four counts of murder and was sentenced to four

consecutive life sentences. To each of those charges that I've just described, how do you plead today? Are you pleading guilty because you believe it's in your best interest to do that? Are you doing so freely and voluntarily? Is anyone threatening you, coercing you? pressuring you in any ways he gave you to do so. Are you under the influence of drugs, alcohol, or taking any sort of medication at this time?

No. But that's account of all being Benjamin Mitchell. You're adjudicated guilty, sentenced to life in the Florida State prison that is with a 25-year minimum mandatory. As to count two, which is Ms. Hapa, that you are adjudicated guilty, sentenced to life in the Florida State Prison with a 25-year minimum mandatory. That's

consecutive to count one. Count three, account relating to Mr. Kiboah, your adjudicated guilty sentenced to life in the Florida State Prison with a 25-year minimum mandatory consecutive to count two. Count four, the count involving Mr. Fulton, your adjudicated guilty sentence to life in the Florida State Prison with a 25-year minimum mandatory. That's consecutive to count three. Now, something to note here when the judge's asking these kind of preliminary questions, here, according to Donaldson's counsel, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, but he wasn't on medication at the time of his police, so he seems to fully understand what he is agreeing to and

understanding the consequences of it. Now, before we get into the actual victim impact statements, which I will tell you are really to hear, state attorney Susie Lopez addressed in a press. why they accepted this plea deal. What this man did to four families and a small community within the city of Tampa is cold, calculated, and unforgivable. However, when this offer was made to our office, we had a moral and ethical obligation to present this offer to the families of the victims, to see how they felt about this killer

going to prison for the rest of his life. What we learned sitting down with each family is that they are exhausted and mentally drained after almost six years of court hearings, a pandemic, an appeal. They know that whether this case were to go before a jury in August or not, their loved ones are not coming back. Nothing will make them whole again.

The family members, though, overwhelmingly supported our acceptance of the defendant's offer to plead guilty to four consecutive life sentences. They wanted, and they deserve, finality. Without the overwhelming support of family members, we would not have accepted the defendant's offer to plead to four consecutive life sentences. I want us all to remember that while four people who were tragically, killed, in this case, were the victims. They've left behind loved ones who still fight to honor their memory every day. During a lengthy trial, the families would have been forced to listen to horrific testimony and would have to relive the nightmare not only during the trial, but in the years to come during the appellate process. It is for this reason, the family's overwhelming support

that the state accepted the defendant's offer to plead guilty to four consecutive life sentences. This will not end the pain and suffering for them, but it will close a painful chapter in this story and begin to provide finality that a trial or death sentence would not provide. So look, if it's what the families wanted, then that is huge. Trials are tough. They take a lot out of the victim's families. And of course, there is always the risk that a jury could find Donaldson not guilty, although that seems highly unlikely given the evidence.

So this puts an end to it. His story is over. While as part of this deal, the death penalty was taken off the table, he was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, four life terms in prison. He's not getting out. He spends the rest of his life behind bars. But let's turn back to the victim impact statements, which always are incredibly difficult to listen to. But they provide those loved ones the opportunity to address the defendant and speak

about who these victims were. These statements weren't going to affect the actual sentence. Donaldson was always going to be sentenced to life in prison. But these people still have the right to make these statements nonetheless. And let's start with Kenny Hoffa, who talked about the loss of his daughter, Monica. First, I want you to realize is what you'd stole from all of these families, you took my opportunity to love my daughter away, to physically touch her, to see her, to be with her. You took that away from us. I will always love my daughter, and now I will always miss my daughter. If you only knew the person that she was, if you only knew the light that you extinguished,

you would be very remorse. Monica was a wonderful person. She spoke three languages. She was a best friend to her. mother. She was that link that helped her mother understand what goes on in the world and bridge that gap to the devil. He took that away. You took that away from her. And what you'll hear is that even though this was six years ago, that pain never goes away. It's hard to imagine what it's like for these people, to look at the man that took their loved ones

away. It's unthinkable. Mr. Hoffa, interestingly also talked about how Donaldson went to great schools, but was an underachiever. You can't understand why he just decided to kill people. It's a good question. We're ever going to get the answer to it. He wasted his life and then took others live. We also heard from the sister of victim Benjamin Edward Mitchell, Nkisha Brown, who had some particularly strong words for her brother's killer. He was my fat boy. And when I say fat boy, I don't mean in the physical sense. I mean fat as in P-H-A-T, passionate, honest, ambitious, and talented.

And you chose to take him away from us. We would just sit around and laugh and laugh and laugh. And now all I have is I walk through my house is pictures of my brother and often stop because I feel like I hear him laughing. talking to me. Him and my mother was very close. He was the only boy of six girls. He loved basketball, going to the beach.

So now, when I go to the beach, I often take a picture of my brother with me. Ben was never confrontational. Because he knew his six sisters would step behind him. And that is what I'm here to do today. It's step because my brother has no voice because you chose to take that from him. As I look at you today, I don't know if it's pity that you're feeling, if it's sorrow, or if you're just like it's finally over. It may be over for you, but it's not over for us.

It will never be over for us. I don't know why we waited this long, what the attorneys were talking about. When I got the phone call when I was at work, that this was what we were going to be doing, I wasn't happy with it because for me, I want you dead. And I mean that from my uterus to the darkest place in my soul. Wow. Yeah. Look, him pleading guilty.

It's not the perfect solution. As I said, it spares the family, the heartache, the difficulty, the publicity of a trial. But I'm sure the question remains is life and prison justice as opposed to the death penalty. But emotions were clearly running high, right? The feelings, though, were different. They weren't all uniform. People had different perspectives on this. Listen to Deline Robinson, the sister of victim, Ronald Felton.

I have forgiven you. And it's really hard to say, but you took a life that you didn't. give um and the bible said that we should forgive and i had to really come to forgiveness for you because when you kill someone you are a murderer i mean a capital to m murderer not just one time but four times and i forgive you i just want to say i forgive you i can't really say what i want to say at this moment but i'll give you i've seen your i've seen your christmas card a birthday card anniversary card whatever i need to send because i want you you remember us. Remember what you did to us. You will always be in our mind because you have

murdered, not just my brother, not just Mr. Anthony's. Calm down. Okay. I'm coming down. Go ahead. I'm done. I'm done. I'm done. We see this many times. The victim's family members actually forgiving the killer of their loved ones. It's incredible to see. It just demonstrates the strength that they have. Well, finally, I want to end on the statement from the stepfather of Benjamin Mitchell, who I believe really summarizes everything so well. Did well. Was on his way to be a great young man.

He had a future. But you snatched it away from her, from me, and all the other families, you snatched that life away, too. When I see you and I've seen you on TV, look on your face makes me sick because you don't know what you did. I don't think, I don't know, but maybe you will realize it one day, like some people say, in yourself for a hundred years, if you live that norm, but I would doubt that. Um, I didn't want you to die. She wanted the death benefit, but I didn't. I wanted you to live this horror that you put all these people through as long as you can. And that's the point, right?

Think about all the lives that were taken. For what? What these people could have done, what they could have become, these families destroyed, For whatever reason, Donaldson decided to take these people away. Take them away from their families, their loved ones, their lives. In just senseless shootings. And now, as you've heard, you will sit in prison, maybe reflecting on the devastation he left behind. And that's all we have for you here on Sidebar, everybody.

Thank you so much for joining us. Please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this long crime series, ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.