Victims identified in Tampa shooting that killed 2 on Nebraska Avenue

Two people killed in Friday’s shooting near a convenience store on Nebraska Avenue in Tampa have been identified.

According to an arrest affidavit for Whitney Rashad Newsome made public on Monday, Newsome shot Fredrick J. Russell, 41, and Breanna L. Jones, 23, during an argument.

Officers responded about 10:30 a.m. to the 900 block of East 26th Avenue, just east of Nebraska Avenue in Ybor Heights, and found Russell and Jones suffering from gunshot wounds, the affidavit states.

According to information previously released by police, Newsome, 37, got into an argument with a woman and that a man tried to intervene and Newsome shot both. Newsome also fired at a second woman but did not hit her.

Investigators obtained surveillance video that showed Newsome arguing with Russell in front of a convenience store in Kings Plaza on the southeast corner of Nebraska and East 26th avenues. Video shows Newsome and Russell continuing to argue as they head east on 26th Avenue, according to the affidavit. Jones is also visible in the video along with a second woman.

The Tampa Bay Times is not naming the second woman in this story because she is a homicide witness.

The video shows Newsome shoot Jones and Russell. After she is shot, the video shows Jones running to the front of the convenience store, where she collapsed, the affidavit states.

The second woman told police she saw Newsome pull a gun from his waistband and point it at Russell. The woman said Newsome fired at her and Russell as they tried to run to a nearby tree for safety. The woman said she saw Newsome shoot Russell as he ran into a field.

Newsome left the scene heading north on 9th Street, the affidavit states.

Police found a handgun along the route that Newsome is believed to have taken. He was found and arrested Saturday morning near the corner of East 25th Avenue and North 33rd Street.

Police said Newsome and the three people he fired at knew each other. A police spokesperson said Monday that how they knew each other and what Newsome and Jones were arguing about was still under investigation.

Newsome was booked into the Hillsborough County jail on two counts of first degree murder, one count of aggravated assault and one count of illegally possessing a firearm as a felon. Prosecutors have a filed a motion seeking to hold him without bond until his case is resolved. A hearing on the motion is set for Wednesday afternoon.

The arrest affidavit states that Newsome is a six-time convicted felon. Records show he has been arrested more than 30 times in Hillsborough County since 2006.

He served 17 months in state prison after he was convicted in 2011 for aggravated battery on a pregnant woman. In 2014, he was adjudged guilty of domestic battery and false imprisonment in Hillsborough and sentenced to 210 days in the county jail, records show.

In 2020, he went to the home of a former girlfriend, pushed her, drew a gun, told her he’d kill her and fired a round into the air, an arrest affidavit states. Prosecutors dropped an aggravated assault charge and he pleaded guilty to battery and was sentenced to time served in the county jail.

Most recently, Newsome was accused of violent crimes in two cases earlier this year but the charges wer dropped.

In February, he was arrested on a battery charge after police determined he punched his brother in the head and struck him in the throat with an umbrella, according to an arrest affidavit. The Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office did not pursue the case because Newsome’s brother did not respond to prosecutors’ efforts to reach him and there was no other admissible evidence to support the charge, records show. He was released from jail on March 8.

A day later, according to police, Newsome beat and choked a man.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, a man said he was sleeping in an alley on the 900 block of 25th Avenue — one block south of where Friday’s shooting happened — on March 9 when Newsome beat him in the head with a wrench and strangled him with a necklace the man was wearing. The man said he escaped by hitting Newsome with a brick. The man was hospitalized and received staples in his head.

Police obtained a warrant for Newsome’s arrest on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon causing great bodily harm, but the State Attorney’s Office filed a letter of release on April 12 stating that while there was probable cause to make an arrest, prosecutors would not be able to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.