TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Tampa serial killer Howell Donaldson was confronted by the families of his victims Monday morning after he was sentenced to life in prison.
Donaldson pleaded guilty during a pre-trial hearing to four counts of first-degree murder to avoid the death penalty. State Attorney Suzy Lopez said her office only accepted the plea due to most of the victim’s family members supporting the deal.
After he was sentenced, the families of victims Benjamin Edward Mitchell, Monica Hoffa, Anthony Naiboa, and Ronald Felton addressed the Seminole Heights killer.
“The Word of God tells us that the Devil comes only to kill, steal, and destroy, and that is exactly what you did,” said Shelina Reneau, cousin of Monica Hoffa.
“You took my opportunity to love my daughter away,” said Kenny Hoffa, Monica Hoffa’s father. “To physically touch her, to see her, to be with her, you took that away. I will always love my daughter, and now I will always miss her.”
Some of the family members present at the hearing said they forgave Donaldson, not to absolve him, but to find their own peace.
“There’s been many, many times when all I did was dwell on who killed my daughter, and when I found out it was you, I dwelled on how can I kill you,” Kenny Hoffa said. “It was killing me. It was killing me! And when I finally saw the light, when God finally spoke to me, and I finally let it go, all that poison left my body. It’s gone.”
Still, the grieving father said Donaldson will end up paying for what he did.
“You used to be the hunter,” he said. “Now you’re going to a place where you’re going to be the hunted. You’re going to a place where no one has your back. Nobody has your back, and you’re going to walk in there famous. Congratulations, you’ll be a target from day one.”
However, not everyone was forgiving. Nakeyshia Brown, the sister of Benjamin Mitchell, said she was not satisfied with Donaldson just getting sentenced to life in prison.
“I want you dead,” Brown said. “I mean that from my uterus to the darkest part in my soul. Hate is such a strong word, but I hate you. I hope when you go to jail, at night when you lay in your cell, that you see Benjamin’s face, Monica’s face, Anthony and Ronald’s face. I pray you have not one sleepless night in the cell that you are confined to.”
Mitchell’s sister also said she hoped that Donaldson’s mother gets the same call that her mother, Brenda Samuels, got when she learned her son was murdered.
“I wish you pure Hell when you walk back into those gates and you enter your cell,” Brown said.
She said for their family, the pain is added by the fact that they cannot even see Mitchell’s grave without making a trip from Las Vegas to Tampa.
“I hope your prison stay is a long journey to Hell and back,” Samuels said.
Brian Dugan, the former Tampa police chief, spoke for Anthony Naiboa’s father, Casimir Naiboa, who chose not to attend the hearing. According to Dugan, the victim’s father did not agree with the plea deal.
“The reason he is not here [is because] he said to me, ‘how do you expect me to be in the same room as the person who killed my son and destroyed my family,'” Dugan said.
Despite the pain, James Felton Jr., the brother of Ronald Felton, said the victims’ families must rely on each other for support.
“We should all should get together and embrace one another and just love one another,” James Felton Jr. said.
With the results of Monday’s sentencing, Donaldson will spend the rest of his life serving four consecutive life sentences with no chance of parole, according to the state attorney.
