Tampa Serial Killer

McDonald's Worker Arrested in Florida Serial Killings

Seminole Height residents can now get a good night's sleep, police say

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

This undated photo provided by the Tampa Police Department shows Howell Emanuel Donaldson. Police in Tampa say they have arrested, Donaldson, 24, and will charge him with murder in a string of recent homicides.   (Tampa Police Department via AP)

(NEWSER) – "Tonight, in the battle between darkness and light, light has won," Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn said Tuesday night after a man was arrested in connection with suspected serial killings in the city's Seminole Heights neighborhood. Police say 24-year-old McDonald's worker Howell Emanuel Donaldson III will be charged with first-degree murder in the killings of Benjamin Mitchell, 22; Monica Hoffa, 32; Anthony Naiboa, 20; and Ronald Felton, 60, WTSP reports. The victims, apparently chosen at random, were shot to death, with the first killing on Oct. 9 and the most recent on Nov. 14.

Police Chief Brian Dugan announced the arrest at police headquarters Tuesday night, though he didn't say whether Donaldson had confessed, the Tampa Bay Times reports. The chief said that after 51 days of terror, Seminole Heights residents can now get a good night's sleep. The mayor added: "Tonight is the beginning of when justice will be served. And then the process will occur when this individual rots in hell." Donaldson was taken into custody Tuesday after allegedly handing his manager at work a loaded handgun and asking him to hold it while he went for a payday loan. The manager then spoke to a police officer who was already in the restaurant.