Three suspects have been arrested for the murders of 23-year-old Damion Tillman, 30-year-old Keven Springfield, and 27-year-old Brandon Rollins, Sheriff Grady Judd announced.
What We Know:
- The three victims were friends who met up in Polk County, Florida for a fishing trip last week. Judd stated that the suspects were Tony “TJ” Wiggins, 26, and his girlfriend, Mary Whittemore, 27, and Tony’s brother, William “Robert” Wiggins, 21. They were all arrested for charges related to the deaths of the three victims.
- Judd also shared that Tony has 230 felony charges, and has been consistently arrested since the age of 12. “I didn’t stutter. He has 230 charges in his arrest history. Fifteen convictions and two times to state prison at only 26,” Judd said.
- Tony is charged with first-degree murder, tampering with evidence, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of ammunition of a convicted felon.
- “He’s a thug. He’s a criminal. He’s pure evil in the flesh,” Judd said. “He’s wild and he’s out of control.”
- Deputies confirmed that Whittemore is charged with accessory after the fact while Robert is charged with tampering with evidence and accessory after the fact. Both accessory after the fact charges are considered capital felonies.
Sheriff Judd is updating the media on the arrests of these 3 suspects in the July 17th triple homicide in #Frostproof: 26 yo Tony “TJ” Wiggins; 27 yo Mary Whittemore; and 21 yo William “Robert” Wiggins. We are live on Facebook https://t.co/rKNE28jFQl. Release to follow pic.twitter.com/1XxFHe2kFQ
— Polk County Sheriff 🚔 (@PolkCoSheriff) July 22, 2020
- Judd described in detail the massacre that took place near a rural lake. He said that Tillman was seen at a Dollar General, and security footage captured him having a brief conversation with Tony.
- Tillman mentioned to the cashier that he was going to meet up with his friend, Springfield, to go fishing. The suspects Tony, Robert, and Mary followed Tillman to the lakeside, where Tony confronted Springfield about selling a truck engine before beating him, eventually shooting and killing all three friends.
Judd stated that details pertaining to the sold truck engine accusation remains under investigation, but referred to it as a possible civil and not a criminal matter. All three suspects are expected in court Thursday.
