Donaldson officially indicted on first-degree murder charges

TAMPA (FOX 13) - The Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren announced a major development in the case against suspected Seminole Heights killer Howell Donaldson, III. 

In a press conference Thursday, State Attorney Warren said a grand jury officially returned an indictment for four counts of first-degree murder against Howell Donaldson, III.

Prosecutors will now officially begin the process of forming a case against Donaldson, who has been accused in the shooting deaths of Benjamin Mitchell, Monica Hoffa, Anthony Naiboa, and Ronald Felton. 

The victims were killed on separate nights, over a period of 51 days, in a roughly seven-block radius of the southeast Seminole Heights neighborhood in Tampa.

After an extensive manhunt which included officers from the FBI, FLDE, ATF, and TPD, a tip from a McDonald's employee ultimately led to Donaldson's arrest. 

Since he was taken into custody, Donaldson's parents have begun a legal battle of their own after they apparently refused to answer questions from prosecutors about their son's background, mental state, and gun possession.