iStock/Thinkstock(TAMPA BAY, Fla.) — The father of 32-year-old Monica Hoffa, who was gunned down in one of three unsolved murders in Tampa in just the past two weeks, is asking his community to speak out and give up anyone who is responsible or has information on her death.
“I know they are afraid. I know people are probably worried that they are going to be next,” Kenny Hoffa said in an interview with ABC affiliate WFTS-TV on Monday. “But, people need to step out and they to identify this guy so we can get him off the street.”
Monica Hoffa’s body was found on Oct. 13 in a vacant lot in the quiet Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa, authorities said. She was found about a half-mile from where two men, Benjamin Mitchell, 22, and Anthony Naiboa, 20, were killed that same week, according to the Tampa Police Department. Police say they believe the murders are connected.
Police say the shootings are linked by proximity and time frame, but they haven’t found a motive or a suspect. It said the victims did not appear to know each other and they were not robbed.
Kenny Hoffa said he is both heartbroken and outraged over the murders.
“I am angrier than I’ve ever been in my life there is just no words can tell you how upset I am,” he said. “There’s two other families that are suffering just like our family is suffering and those two families need vengeance just like we do.”
“I need that Seminole Heights community to stand up and I need them to point out who that man is,” he added.
Monica Hoffa, who spent a lot of her time interpreting for her deaf mother, her dad said, was walking to meet a friend when she was shot and killed by an unknown suspect at around 8:45 p.m on October 11, according to police.
Because my daughter made a difference in this world I just hate it that someone took that from the world and me,” Kenny Hoffa said. “She had a great sense of humor … she was a good person.”
The murders have put the Seminole Heights community on edge.
Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan told ABC News that he has advised officers to be extremely vigilant.
“When I spoke to the guys at the briefing, I told them that, ‘Everybody out there is a potential suspect or a potential victim and [you] need to think like that,'” he said. “We have someone terrorizing the neighborhood.”
Dugan said residents should not live in fear, but suggested that they put their porch lights on, go out in groups and “do cookouts.”
A reward of up to $25,000 is being offered by Crime Stoppers of Tampa and The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for any information that leads to the arrest of a suspect in the case.
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