Late into the night, after the sun had set, officers remained at the scene. They had apprehended a 27-year-old man following a violent incident that began as a domestic dispute in the early morning and tragically ended in murder.
Around 1 a.m. on Thursday, Hillsborough County deputies responded to a residential area close to the 5800 block of U.S. Highway 92, where they discovered the lifeless body of an adult woman.
After a thorough investigation, detectives took Erick Gonzalez Garay, aged 27, into custody and placed him in the Orient Road Jail.
Garay is facing charges of second-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence, tampering with a witness, and aggravated assault.
Details regarding the specifics of the domestic dispute have not been immediately disclosed.
Detectives have not provided additional information about the circumstances leading up to the shooting. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has taken charge of the investigation, which is standard procedure in incidents involving law enforcement officers.
“I condemn this heinous act of violence in the strongest terms, and I’m urging our community to come together, to look out for one another, and to speak out against domestic violence,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister stated. “We are here to protect and serve, and we will continue to do everything in our power to make our community a safer place for all.”
