Update: Authorities Looking for Homicide Suspect

(This story was updated from a previous version).

UPDATE:

Authorities from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office are searching for a 23-year-old man they say killed a Carrollwood man on Wednesday.

Joshua Charles Thomas is being sought in connection with the slaying of Rafael Perez, 31, of 5490 Friarsway Drive in Carrollwood.

According to the sheriff's office, at 4:49 a.m. on Nov. 23, Perez's roommate came home and found Perez dead inside their home. Authorities arrived and found Perez dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

Neighbors told authorities that a 2000 black Chevrolet Suburban was seen at the house about 20 minutes before the roommate got home, and that the SUV had been spotted at the house several times during the past few days.

A witness said Perez and Thomas were seen inside the house on Nov. 22, the day before Perez was killed.

Authorities learned that Thomas was the driver of the SUV, and that he confessed to the killing.

A motive has not been determined by authorities, but they say that drugs may have played a role.

Thomas may be driving the black SUV with the Florida tag AAS-P89. He is considered armed and dangerous.

On Wednesday morning, detectives from the sheriff's office worked the crime scene at the home, 5490 Friarsway Drive, just east of the intersection of Lynn Turner Road and Gunn Highway. The house is owned by Mayra Erklauer, according to the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's website.

Around the corner from the crime scene, Michelle Cestoni sat in a chair in her Friarsway Drive home to dodge the raindrops, watching detectives come and go.

Cestoni has lived in her home for 24 years, and says the neighborhood has changed, but not for the better. She said a friend who lives in the neighborhood told her he heard gunshots last night.

"We have a lot of drugs," she said. "I asked one of the detectives what they were doing, and they said, 'investigating a murder.' I was shocked."

Anyone with information on Thomas's whereabouts is being asked to call the sheriff's office at 813-247-8200.