Howell ‘Trai’ Donaldson III was a walk-on on the St. John’s men’s basketball team from 2011-2012. Donaldson never stepped on the court that year as the Red Storm went 13-19 and failed to play in a postseason tournament.
Five years after serving as a walk-on, Donaldson graduated from the school in January of 2017. 10 months later in November of 2017, Donaldson was arrested at a McDonalds. The former Red Storm basketball player was arrested in connection with the killing of four people in Tampa since October 9th.
According to the Tampa Bay Times, Donaldson is most likely the ‘Seminole Heights serial killer.’ Donaldson was arrested on four counts of first-degree murder. The four people who were killed were three men and one woman from October 9th to November 14th. They ranged in age from 20 to 60 years old.
“It just felt right,”Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said at a Tuesday news conference. “I kind of had a feeling that we were going to get a break.”
Donaldson was arrested Tuesday afternoon when he showed up to work at the McDonalds he worked at in Ybor City. There, his manager said Donaldson asked him to hold onto his semiautomatic pistol for him, which was loaded. From there, the manager notified an officer at the restaurant about the gun.
After backup was called and Donaldson was arrested, the police began to inspect the vehicle Donaldson drove to work in that day. That’s what led the police to finding out that Donaldson was responsible for the killings.
“Fifty one days ago I said this was a struggle between good and evil,” Mayor Bob Buckhorn said after it was determined Donaldson was the killer. “Well, tonight goodness has won.”
[Tampa Bay Times/Photo: NBC News]
