- yesterday
Last Night Out Season 1 Episode 3
#PrimeUSTV
🎞 Please join
https://t.me/CinemaSeriesUSFilm
#PrimeUSTV
🎞 Please join
https://t.me/CinemaSeriesUSFilm
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:0032 year old Monica Hoffa is getting ready for a night out to see a friend she basically just
00:15took her cell phone with her and maybe her wallet she called my grandmother it was around I want to
00:23say 7 30 7 45 right around there she talked to her and let's say about 15 minutes later that was it
00:32she just never answered after that something doesn't feel right
00:37Monica Hoffa's family is growing increasingly anxious no one has heard from her but what they
00:45don't yet realize is that Monica isn't the only Tampa resident in danger a deadly threat is stalking
00:53the city somebody just shot it to go stop law enforcement doesn't know exactly where to start
01:00because they're putting together a puzzle and they have no idea what the pieces even look like
01:04we knew they were the same make model of showcasing caliber later on determined from forensics the
01:13same firearm was used yeah it's a bad body it's a white woman
01:18in Seminole Heights Monica is heading out to meet a friend
01:47on October 11th I remember that that was a Wednesday I do remember that at that time it
01:56was starting to get darker already earlier because it was close to that time change and
02:02I remember that because that was the day before my grandmother's birthday my grandmother's birthday
02:06was October 12th as well as looking forward to family celebrations the young hospitality worker
02:13also has exciting news of her own to share Monica was talking that she thought she was maybe pregnant
02:19at that time so I know she was looking to have her family she was really happy with with her
02:28relationship you know with her boyfriend you know so so those were like kind of like things the good
02:34things that were happening at that time for her Monica rings her grandparents to make plans for the party
02:49the following day she called my grandmother it was around I want to say 7 30 7 45 right around there
02:57as she told my grandmother that she needed my grandfather to pick her up on the next day and that's when my grandmother said
03:08let me check with your grandfather and I'll call you back
03:11as Monica waits to hear about her lift she leaves her apartment on foot to meet up with her friend
03:21she basically just took her cell phone with her and um and I believe maybe her wallet was also with her
03:30I mean I think at that time uh the people in that area in the neighborhood likely felt very
03:37comfortable to to be walking around at 8 30 8 45 9 o'clock at night I think that would have been normal for
03:45them in that process my grandmother called her back to tell her yes that my grandfather could pick her up and she
04:01didn't that at that time she never answered and with the timing it was important because she talked to her and
04:09let's say about 15 minutes later that was it she just never answered after that so my grandmother said well
04:21maybe she just forgot or something or maybe she just got a ride because she was just like very you know
04:25free-spirited and she's probably just figured it out
04:28it's the day of her grandmother's birthday and everyone is there everyone except Monica
04:44she did not show up for her grandmother's birthday and you know it's 24 hours before they could
04:56think that someone was missing and I I guess they couldn't make that call right then but it was not
05:02like her not to be around her grandmother especially on her birthday and she had a very very close
05:11relationship with my grandmother I remember my grandmother said no Monica hasn't called me
05:17Monica never called me for my birthday and that's just weird but she goes bad but maybe she just got
05:21busy and then I said well well maybe she might call you later with still no sign of Monica her family
05:41starts to grow concerned it's unusual for her not to be in touch for this long I was at work and I
05:50received a text it was from Derek from the boyfriend and he asked me he goes hey have you heard from
05:56Monica um he goes I'm worried I haven't talked to her since Wednesday concerned her cousin Yuri calls
06:04Monica's flatmate she said no she has not seen Monica since Wednesday and she says and what's weird is
06:12that Monica's door is closed and the light is on and it's been like that for two days
06:18I told my husband the whole story and I said something doesn't feel right so I came to my
06:26grandparents home again and I said abuela and abuela are you sure think are you sure you haven't talked
06:32to her she hasn't tried to text you nothing no so I called her mom her mom lived in uh Georgia at that
06:41time but her mom and her spoke frequently like every day or every other day and she said no I haven't
06:48and he's like and I called a few of the hospitals but they said no that they haven't gotten anybody
06:56and then there was one hospital that said wait a minute I have a Jane Doe that might be that she was
07:03in Seminole Heights 32 year old Monica Hoffa has disappeared and she's not answering her phone
07:32no one has heard from her for nearly 48 hours and her family is growing concerned
07:38told my husband the whole story and I said something doesn't feel right
07:44fearing the worst Yuri calls the local hospitals to see if her cousin has been admitted
07:54and when I gave her the description she's like no no no this is not her
07:58relieved Monica's family now wonders if something in her life has caused her to go off grid
08:04as far as they know she's very happy
08:08she did have a relationship um Derek and that was her boyfriend at that time
08:14I'm Kenny Hoffa I'm Monica Hoffa's father
08:22she was dating a young gentleman and uh on the last couple of visits when I was down she uh talked
08:32about eventually having kids and and getting married and how she thought he might be the one
08:39Monica's family has no reason to be concerned about any threat from the community that she lived in
08:48she would walk anywhere not afraid of anything talk to anyone she was very comfortable in Tampa
08:57she was just sassy she was full of life she was a lot of fun to be around
09:04as well as having a successful job as a waitress Monica is extremely close to her grandparents
09:14and always turns to them in times of trouble she lived with her grandmother and grandfather
09:21uh great people um they they did the majority of her being raised
09:29that was their baby because even though she was the granddaughter she was like their kid because they
09:36they raised her they they were her guardians her legal guardians um you know so they had her from
09:43the time that she was born my grandparents were the ones that did everything for Monica
09:48and so for that two days her family had to wonder and worry about where she was
10:05then an emergency call changes everything
10:11i was coming to do this lot you know because i wrote for the city yeah it's a dead body it's a white
10:21woman she is right in the grass
10:24a city landscaping crew preparing to mow an overgrown vacant lot not far from Monica's home
10:36make a tragic discovery they couldn't see her because of the the grass being so overgrown
10:44and when they came out and they were cleaning the area that's when they found her
10:49she was just walking to her friend's house innocently and she was gunned down
10:59i do recall there was casings in the street which were maybe 20 30 feet at least from where she was
11:10found um so there was a theory that she was being chased or was moving while she was being shot
11:17there were five shots that were fired
11:24two were misses and the other three killed her
11:32it was especially heartbreaking that her body had been laying in this tall grass for two days
11:39after securing the crime scene the police informed Monica's family
11:45then when the officer goes i have to tell you we found Monica's body
11:52it was a shock like i couldn't believe it
11:56i have to tell Monica's dad and i told him Monica was shot and she was she was killed basically
12:03and then they had to worry about how long was she alive you know was she alive for hours was
12:12she alive for a day if somebody had found her could they have saved her i mean these are all the
12:17kinds of things that would haunt any family member
12:20Monica's cousin now has the task of breaking the news to Monica's mother Olga
12:27who's driven down from Georgia
12:29she just saw my face and she just like she started just crying and she knew and she was like punching the
12:40wall because she knew that she was gone
12:44i knew my grandparents were not going to live through that i i knew i knew that we were going
12:51to lose them because Monica was their life they lived for her
12:55my grandparents were very active they were um you know at least once a year
13:09you know they would do like a family vacation go out you know enjoy they enjoyed life
13:14and after that my grandfather deteriorated to the point that within about a year he couldn't
13:22barely even walk anymore my grandmother to my grandmother she just lost the love for life
13:29she said that she wanted to just that she was ready to go home that she was ready to go
13:34and be reunited with Monica
13:35but as police begin investigating Monica's murder they're about to make an unsettling discovery
13:47Monica's is not the only murder where the victim has also been on a night out
13:53Benjamin Mitchell
14:08african-american 20 years of age
14:11he was waiting at the bus stop
14:13he's all excited he's going to see his girlfriend
14:16and all of a sudden
14:19somebody's looking shot at the bus stop
14:22can you guys apply pressure to the wounds
14:24shoot her try to apply pressure to the wound
14:27there's a man dying
14:29there's the police coming down now
14:31he's shot and killed
14:34so where Benjamin was shot
14:40it was maybe about a block or so from where Monica lived
14:44there was multiple shots
14:48we have you know shell casings recovered
14:53we have evidence or video of somebody running to and from the scene
14:58not known at that point if he's actually involved or not
15:00so it was there was nothing that from my perspective
15:04that was too I guess strange or extraordinary
15:08we just approached it as a normal case that we would follow the best evidence and try to find who did it
15:13at first police treat the shooting of Benjamin Mitchell three days earlier as a random killing
15:20he was a full-time college student who had played sports and done theater in high school
15:26and he was taking the bus and just caught in the wrong place at the wrong time
15:33we were very much aware this could have been a random killing
15:37and until we prove that otherwise we're treating it as such
15:40there seems to be no motive
15:44nobody knows who did it
15:47and if you're living in this community
15:49it's got to be terrifying
15:50because this could happen to anybody
15:54Mitchell's death was a shock to the community
16:03most of the homicides we see in Tampa is an extremely safe city
16:07are between people who know each other
16:09people who are you know fighting for the reasons we commonly see those fights over drugs or other illegal activity
16:16but to have a young man like Mitchell who is just going about his day killed for no apparent reason
16:24cause some immediate concern with the law enforcement community
16:31when Monica Hoffa is shot two days later the police examining the evidence begin to wonder if the two cases are linked
16:45the technology at that point was able to determine that likely the same firearm was used
16:52we knew they were the same make and model of showcasing and then obviously the caliber and then again later on determined from forensics the same firearm was used
17:06we often find that once that killer gets past the first victim
17:13an ease comes about
17:17so our second victim Monica Hoffa
17:2132 years of age white woman
17:24different age
17:27different race
17:29different gender
17:31there's no pattern here
17:34police investigation is looking for clues that link people together time space location
17:43these don't have that
17:46I think we were pretty confident that the victims and their lives their victimology so to speak
17:54and really had nothing to do with their deaths other than where they were at that time on specific night
18:07meanwhile on the streets of Seminole Heights
18:09fears grow that a murderer is indiscriminately stalking people who are out at night
18:15losing your daughter no matter what
18:18I think
18:20you're gonna be devastated
18:24you're gonna
18:25you're gonna just freak out
18:30because that was your little girl
18:32but add
18:35to that
18:37you know there's somebody out there who's still doing this
18:41there are so many victims when you have a killer on the list because not only do you have people who've been murdered and you have their families who have to deal with that but you have an entire community who is terrified you have mothers and fathers who don't want their children to go outside you have people afraid to walk in their neighborhood they don't want their children to go outside you have people afraid to walk in their neighborhood
19:10they don't want to walk in their neighborhood they don't want to walk in their dog anymore or go for a job or that so it's almost like this whole community is being held captive
19:17so you can imagine that the police department is perplexed with ideas of what's going to happen next the community is perplexed with what's going to happen next because of the randomness of the characteristics each of these individuals have
19:38as residents of seminal heights grapple with double murder in their community
19:45another tampa resident faces a harsh indifferent reality of his own
19:50for 24 year old howell donaldson the third the dream of becoming a basketball star has never felt more out of reach
19:59now at this time donaldson was working at a mcdonald's like a lot of young people do to try to make ends meet
20:06uh but for someone who had told his friends that he was going to be a basketball star in college
20:12for someone who had ambitions of being a sports agent he must have felt like he had hit rock bottom
20:19with his career and his path in life
20:22howell donaldson the third was born in north carolina and he was born into some really fortunate
20:30circumstances he was born into a very loving family a very devout family religion was very important to
20:40them his parents were loving his parents owned their own business and he really had so many advantages
20:46he was growing up donaldson grew up in tampa he had a relatively normal upbringing he was by all accounts
20:55a popular kid and he ended up going up to st john's university in new york city for college
21:04donaldson absolutely was shooting for the stars it is very clear that his number one priority in high
21:11school was basketball and he was willing to do whatever it takes to try to be that basketball
21:18star that he not only i think wanted to be but really saw himself as being
21:25but despite his best efforts
21:29donaldson fails to make the grade and is turned down for a basketball scholarship
21:35for somebody i think who was invested from a very young age and being this basketball star
21:42that would have been really disappointing to him
21:49after leaving university donaldson gets a job with a medical education company back in tampa
21:57but he's fired three months later for absenteeism he's also facing housing problems and is sofa surfing
22:06he's in a position now where he is literally going from his parents house to staying with a female
22:11friend he's working at mcdonald's i mean this must feel like the absolute bottom to him
22:19it appears that donaldson may have had some troubles with uh how difficult life proved to be again a young
22:27man who had his future in front of him and who thought that success maybe would have come a little bit
22:32more easily than it had and he didn't quite achieve what he had hoped on the basketball court or in his
22:38professional life at such a young age so what we're seeing i think is just a slow downward spiral
22:50the question is how do you respond to those low points what is going to be the action when these
22:57tough situations of life continuously come your way what's going to happen next all three 51
23:06with a killer in tampa still at large police ramp up their presence on the streets of seminal heights
23:13but people are fearful amongst them james felton and his twin brothers ronald and reggie
23:23ronald's job means that he travels through the tampa streets in the early hours of the morning
23:28it was kind of dark going down these streets if you got a dog that bob make sure you check that's when
23:36he started getting serious i never knew that it was going to happen again and again and again
23:54here we have a situation where you have two victims not doing anything wrong in their lives
24:06it's a little bit like searching for a needle in a haystack law enforcement doesn't know exactly
24:10where to start because they're putting together a puzzle and they have no idea what the pieces even look
24:15like people were just frantically trying to figure out how can i be safer so for example you have people
24:25who kind of go okay the first victim was at a bus stop uh the second victim was maybe missed the bus
24:31so i'm not going to take the bus or i'm not going to walk down this particular street
24:35no one would catch the bus especially when the third got here
24:58on october the 19th of 2017 20 year old anthony naboa who's autistic
25:05happens to get on the wrong bus he's on his way home and he realizes that he gets off the bus
25:11in seminal heights and he is making his way to get back on another bus when he is gunned down
25:25he was working uh packaging supplies to be sent to puerto rico to help with hurricane relief
25:32he was an aspiring musician and a rapper he was you know one of several children
25:37who had a close relationship with his siblings and with his parents
25:41this one was across the street basically from where benjamin mitchell was killed it was in front of
25:51benjamin mitchell's residence basically the same time of the night
25:55his murder occurs why because he gets on the wrong bus wrong place at the wrong time
26:04you know any murder loss of life is is just difficult to comprehend
26:18these murders specifically though there was just such randomness to it and um
26:25yeah there there seemed to be no motive
26:28so it was it was pretty pretty extraordinary at the point that anthony naboya was killed and we
26:35determined the same firearm same area we definitively knew we had a serial killer on our hands
26:42it doesn't even matter who he kills it just maybe somebody's in the wrong place at the wrong time
26:53and that is really the ultimate i think in dehumanizing somebody to go out and just kill
26:58a random person who you don't know who's never done anything to you who you have no attraction to you
27:04you have no anger toward it really is the ultimate dehumanization
27:11i think that the entire area was just under the stranglehold of you know these these murders these
27:21these killings it was a fear and i'm not somebody that is scared very easily and i just felt fear all
27:30the time of just being outside alone i could not be outside in the front driveway and see a car driving
27:36by because i was just scared all the time and it took me a long time to get over that
27:51there was a palpable sense of fear in the community and our mayor at the time uh famously said you know
27:58bring me his head on a platter this guy is not going to win he's not taking over this neighborhood
28:06he's not taking over these streets you guys go hunt him down and bring his bring his head to me
28:14that's not the most diplomatic thing a mayor could say it's certainly not what a prosecutor who's an
28:19officer of the court would say but it captured the frustration and anger of the community
28:25then in a new appeal for information police release security footage of a man who they believe to be
28:34a potential suspect
28:38with three murders in 10 days law enforcement had some information to work with and are doing their
28:44best to develop suspects doing their best to work for the community without any evidence to help us
28:50find that one person who's committing these crimes there's a real concern that this is going to
28:56continue
29:03a quick possibility that we all thought was was occurring is you know it's a robbery the motive
29:08uh theft determined that wasn't invented mitchell's murder likely not monica hoffa's and then again
29:13in naiboa so we were raising the level of of concern that when you don't have a motive it's it made it
29:22more difficult in the investigation to know where to focus usually in the homicide world we're trying to
29:27identify and arrest a person responsible for a case uh it doesn't happen so often that we are trying to
29:34prevent another one from occurring this had become a a story nationally and internationally because we
29:43had a serial or a spree killer in our midst in tampa law enforcement did a really good job working with the
29:49community uh to beef up the police presence and for a month there were no more victims
29:55two things that stop a serial killer being caught or dying for most part we don't believe that they
30:06simply stopped
30:17during that time it was you know almost every day we went without a murder it was a little bit of a
30:22obviously a reprieve but there wasn't as much pressure i guess by a two or three week period of
30:29something not occurring everyone was wondering well is this is this done after october 19th things start
30:37settling down there's not a murder on the 21st there's not a murder on november the 1st and so i think
30:45in the media moves on like they do because there's always things to talk about
30:49and so at this point things are slowly starting to creep back to normal and then on november the 14th
31:00another murder happens
31:19in tampa florida police are still struggling to identify a nighttime serial killer who's at large
31:42with no recent shootings they hope the killing spree is over but early on that tuesday morning detectives
31:51receive a number of panicked calls from the community
31:54i think i got a call around 4 30 or 4 45 in the morning i got up and i heard what happened again
32:09i'm alone what's the emergency yes ma'am um i heard four gunshots north of like north of mlk and
32:21nobody on the field party called that in i just heard things i'm sitting in my apartment how many
32:35Uh, there's just four or five gunshots.
32:38And there's a dead man laying in the middle of the street.
32:40There were five shots, and he's dead.
32:42He looks like he's dead.
32:43OK, and what's the correct answer?
32:44Laying in the middle of Nebraska.
32:46OK. Two shots, though, but that truck just turned around.
32:51Oh, my God, and they threw it over that person and shot them.
32:58This time, the victim is James Felton's older brother,
33:0260-year-old construction worker Ronald Felton.
33:05When he was walking, that's when he heard someone behind,
33:13and the light from his cell phone flew on him when he turned
33:18to see who he was.
33:21And that's when he got shot.
33:24And he fell backwards.
33:26And when he fell backwards, he went up to him, over him,
33:30to shoot him again.
33:32But who would do this to a person?
33:38And this is such an amazing man.
33:41He is homeless himself.
33:43And yet, this is a man who is known in the community
33:47because he volunteers regularly at this church.
33:50So he is literally on his way to help prepare food and distribute it
33:53to people who need it.
33:58Ronald was a construction worker.
34:01He had spent 25 years on the job.
34:03And this was someone who was giving back to the community
34:06by working at a food bank.
34:08He was crossing a relatively busy street early in the morning at about 5 a.m.
34:13when there weren't a lot of people around, and that's when he was killed.
34:20Ronald Felton, age 60, African-American male, walking at 4.50 in the morning,
34:27killed, murdered, while he goes to serve others and feed others.
34:33He becomes the fourth victim.
34:36Imagine being the police of Seminole Heights, Florida.
34:42What appears to be random killings are taking place in your jurisdiction.
34:49People are fearful about going about their everyday lives.
34:54It throws you off, and now there's a new victim.
34:57And it's like you're reliving it all over again.
35:02Then a witness comes forward with a description.
35:04He's a black male dressed in black.
35:08Still, the killer evades capture.
35:25Police get a break.
35:26The manager of the local McDonald's is concerned about a package she's just been given.
35:32We had a police officer who was randomly at a McDonald's restaurant
35:37not too far from downtown here in Tampa.
35:40When she was approached by a manager,
35:42I think she had a McDonald's bag and gave a story that an employee
35:49or a former employee had given it to her, asked her to hold it.
35:51And then that just kind of snowballed.
35:54The manager then gives the bag to an officer who is in the restaurant.
36:00My employee is saying that he's leaving town, that he's going to get some money.
36:07He gave me this gun and told me to get rid of it.
36:11I mean, what's up with this?
36:17It turns out the employee is 24-year-old wannabe basketball star,
36:23Howell Donaldson.
36:25Could this be their serial killer?
36:29Uncertain of what they're dealing with, police swoop on the fast food outlet.
36:35He's working at McDonald's.
36:38He's working at McDonald's.
36:39He tells his manager that he's going to quit.
36:42He turns in his uniform.
36:43He says he needs to run to go buy a ticket to leave town and he's going to come back.
36:49And really surprisingly, shockingly, he handed the manager a bag and said,
36:55Hold on to this for me and don't look into it.
36:59And the manager felt the bag and realized that there was a gun inside.
37:03She opened it up and found the gun and immediately contacted law enforcement.
37:07And that's what led to Donaldson's arrest.
37:15Later, during questioning, Donaldson's manager describes to police the conversation with him.
37:21I would imagine most people, if somebody gave them a bag with something in it, a plastic bag,
37:41that felt like a gun, you would be concerned about what this is.
37:45I mean, this is not, their relationship was not that close.
37:50He's given this to his manager, who, of course, looks in the bag.
37:57There's a million things he could have done with this gun.
38:00He could have thrown it in a river.
38:02He could have taken it with him.
38:03He could have done a million different things.
38:05It's so hard for me to believe it was just stupidity that led to that.
38:10I have to say, this is one of those few situations when I have to wonder if, on some level,
38:19Howell Donaldson, at the very least, was wanting to stop doing what he was doing.
38:23He then is questioned, his car is searched, and they find loads of evidence that pin him to this criminal activity.
38:38So in the car, they find blood-stained clothing.
38:43They're later able to link that blood-stained clothing to one of the victims.
38:50So the blood-stained clothing matches surveillance footage of the killer.
38:55The gun, the gun that's in that fast food bag, is later tested, and it matches that of gun involved in these shootings, in these killings.
39:08He's linked together with these killings, with these horrible murders.
39:14Now in custody, and under police interrogation, Donaldson denies any involvement in the four murders.
39:27Are you responsible for this?
39:28No.
39:29Because it's the gun.
39:31Okay?
39:31You murdered those people.
39:33Your phone will put you right there at specific times.
39:36We know it's you.
39:37The police tell us why.
39:39I don't know.
39:39And why?
39:40I just don't know anything else to say.
39:44I just want to, I guess, talk to my attorney and talk to who I need to talk to.
39:51Today is a good day.
39:53Today, the good guys won.
39:56Today, Seminole Heights can sleep.
40:00I mean, who walks around with the murder weapon in a sandwich bag in McDonald's
40:07and then ask his boss to hold this while I go try to get money to get a ticket to get out of town.
40:16For all of, you know, his opportunities, he was just a dumb kid.
40:29In court, 26-year-old Donaldson denies four counts of first-degree murder.
40:48The victim's families call for the ultimate punishment if he's found guilty.
40:52There was a meeting with the, uh, the prosecuting attorney, you know, the,
40:59I think they call it the state's attorney for Florida.
41:04And, um, we all made the decision that we wanted death.
41:09After three years of legal wrangling and nearly six years since the first shooting,
41:24Donaldson suddenly changes his plea.
41:28He changes it to guilty to avoid the death penalty.
41:33He is sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
41:45One thing that we could never make sense of was a motive.
41:49There obviously was turmoil going on in his life for anybody to do this,
41:52but it wasn't readily evident, so to speak, from the records and the data that we had.
41:58This case really is about a young man who did not live up to his, perhaps,
42:05unrealistic expectations for himself and his accomplishments.
42:09And instead of finding a way to deal with that directly, took it out on the world around him.
42:15We have four victims, Benjamin, Anthony, Monica, Ronald,
42:19who, you know, we can talk about as a college student and as a construction worker,
42:24but that will never capture who these people are.
42:27You know, I sat with their families and heard the stories and saw the pictures
42:32and laughed and cried with them as we remembered the loved ones lost.
42:38Nothing will ever justify, nothing will ever explain these four innocent lives that were ripped from our community.
42:47I'll never stop loving my daughter.
42:48She was just a great child who had a great sense of humor and a whole future ahead of her.
42:57She was really, she was a light in the darkness.
43:03Four lives were taken that will never come back because of the acts of Donaldson.
43:08This is the horrific reality of serial killing.
43:11Let's thank the law enforcement and others involved in bringing this person to justice and taking him off the streets.
43:23We'll never know what Donaldson was thinking or why he committed these heinous crimes,
43:28but it doesn't matter because what we do know is that he's going to spend the rest of his life in prison,
43:34that he was convicted of these four murders.
43:37And now that the victims' families have a little sense of closure and a little sense of justice that they deserve.
43:47In 2023, Howell Donaldson is finally imprisoned for his 37-day killing spree in Seminole Heights,
43:55in which he condemned four innocent people to their last night out.
44:00Thank you very much.
44:07The End
44:10The End
44:14Transcription by CastingWords
Recommended
44:42
|
Up next
44:02
44:22
40:49
47:52
27:31
45:48
12:31
41:36
43:33
40:55