ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A St. Petersburg man accused of killing a woman in March is now facing new charges.
Police said 52-year-old Gene Stephens allegedly killed 34-year-old Jona Joy Waller in an alley near 37th Street North. Investigators said her body was found with several stab wounds.
St. Petersburg police said two women have come forward and said they were sexually assaulted by Stephens. He is now facing two additional charges of sexual battery.
Investigators believe there may be other victims as well.
“As we started putting the pieces together, we started realizing there might be a little bit more here and the fact we have a pattern, it’s indicative of something we need to look at a little bit more,” said Assistant Police Chief Mike Kovacsev.
Police say the Stephens has a pattern of going after the vulnerable.
“We are a little bit concerned that there might be other victims out there as to where we just have a duty to make sure that if somebody wants to report something, or if they did and we haven’t linked them together it would be a good time to let us know so we can build those cases,” Kovacsev said.
They hope other victims will come forward.
“The best thing is to let people know, hey, if something were to happen to you, don’t want to be victimized twice. You want the opportunity to be heard, you want your case to be resolved,” said Kovacsev.
