Four Arrested In First- Degree Apartment Murder

Several suspects have been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of a Tampa man at an apartment complex just south of Tampa Palms.

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), just after midnight on November 7, the agency received a call about a shooting at the Casablanca Apartments (located near the intersection of E. Bearss Ave. and Bruce B. Downs [BBD] Blvd.). When deputies arrived, they found Damian Santos, 23, of Tampa, shot to death in a vehicle. Investigators have determined that the fatal shooting was the result of a drug deal and robbery gone bad. 

Deputies learned that a black male and white female were observed at the scene just before the shooting and that the male was overheard saying that he, too, had been shot. 

HCSO reports that while deputies were on the scene, they were alerted that a black male had been checked into Florida Hospital Tampa (located on E. Fletcher Ave.) with a gunshot wound. Deputies identified and interviewed Joshua Dondree Green, 21, of Tampa, at the hospital, and determined that he was a suspect in the shooting. The unidentified female also was taken into custody for questioning.

HCSO’s investigators also determined that Matthew James Green (not related to Joshua), 22, a resident of the Casablanca Apartments, also was a suspect and he was taken into custody around 8 p.m. the same day. HCSO deputies later also arrested Allen James Waddell, 22, of Seffner, on November 10 and Nicholas Walker Leizear, 19, of Valrico, on November 17 in connection with the same shooting. 

All four suspects have been charged with first-degree felony murder and robbery with a firearm and were still being held at the Hillsborough County Jail without bond at our press time.