Police: Man found dead at Christ the King church a homicide victim
By | Tbo.com
Published: August 16, 2012
Updated: August 16, 2012 - 2:31 PM
Homicide detectives scoured the front parking lot at Christ the King Catholic Church in South Tampa this morning, looking for clues in the grisly, mysterious death of a man found beneath a white Toyota Corolla parked by the front entrance.
Complicating matters was this: There was an open house at the church's school, where classes begin Monday. Throngs of parents and their children were directed to park along Church Street on the west side of the complex or in the north lot to avoid the crime scene.
A patrol officer noticed the car under the overhang at 5:45 a.m. today and stopped to investigate. A church custodian came out of the building at that time and noticed the body under the car.
Police said the older Hispanic male was the victim of a homicide and died sometime overnight, but released no other details. By midafternoon, officers have not positively identified the man and didn't expect that to take place today, said police spokeswoman Andrea Davis. An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow, she said.
The homicide did not appear to be random, she said.
A "person of interest" is in custody and was expected to be charged by the end of the day with offenses not connected to the homicide, Davis said. That person was not identified.
Police tape stretched across the parking lot bordered by South Dale Mabry Highway and West Morrison Avenue on Thursday morning. The sprawling crime scene included small orange cones marking items of interest along the north side of that lot, including a wheelchair in a small courtyard north of the St. John Bosco Catholic Education Center, which houses the school's education offices.
Police suspect, but could not confirm that the wheelchair belonged to the victim.
A few yards west of where the wheelchair sat, a half-dozen religious statues, each about three feet long, were overturned under a tree in a courtyard. Homicide detectives made note of the scene, but it was unclear if the toppled statues were connected to the homicide.
A large stain of what appeared to be blood was marked on the pavement of the parking lot. Two shoes were nearby. The car and body were about 100 feet away, under an overhang in front of the church.
Detectives initially said the man appeared to be homeless and may have been the victim of a hit-and-run Wednesday night. Near the stain was a pile of what looked like construction-type debris. There was a piece of pink insulation, a paint bucket and a five-gallon bucket, and what looked like a spilled bag of concrete.
A new school facility is under construction on the property's south side along Morrison Avenue. The previous school buildings were razed this summer, and upcoming classes will be in portables on the athletic field northwest of the church.
School Principal Gerad Carrier confirmed the open house and that all parents were detoured to other parking lots. Other questions were referred to the police department.
Christ the King School was founded in 1949 and serves about 500 students from prekindergarten through the eighth grade.
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