Odessa Home Invasions Connected to Man Charged in Triple Shooting

Jason Mark Burnett turned 37 on Saturday, May 4.

He is accused of spending the very next day breaking into three homes, killing two people and injuring a third.

That’s according to Pasco and Hillsborough County Sheriff’s deputies who say Burnett began a home invasion spree in Odessa in the early morning hours of May 5 that ended with three shootings and one death in Citrus Park.

The first incident began around 9:45 a.m. May 5 when Pasco deputies say Burnett went to a home at 14339 Tifton Lane in Odessa and entered through an unlocked door. He walked into the home’s bedroom and demanded money from a woman. He left with the woman’s cell phone.

At 10 a.m., deputies say Burnett paid a visit to a home at 1518 Rowland Drive. This time he forced his way inside and demanded money and guns from the victim, Pasco County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Doug Tobin wrote in an email to media.

“Burnett was carrying a revolver and struck the victim on the head with the gun causing a laceration above his left eye,” Tobin wrote.

Burnett was traveling with a woman and the pair left the scene in a 2000 Ford F150 pickup truck. Burnett did get cash during the second robbery, Tobin said.

Burnett’s spree continued from there into Hillsborough County where deputies say he shot three women in a Citrus Park home around 11:15 a.m. May 5. Two of the women – Nel Mason, 52, and Fern Giddings, 56, died as a result. Mason’s daughter, Christina Soto, 35, was also shot and remains in St. Joseph’s Hospital today, May 6.

Burnett was arrested by Hillsborough deputies on a host of charges, including two counts of first-degree murder. Charges in Pasco are pending, Tobin said.

Deputies in both counties say the robberies appear to be drug-related.

Burnett had a male accomplice in the Citrus Park robbery. You can read more details about the Citrus Park shooting in this article published on Carrollwood-Northdale Patch.

Stay with Carrollwood-Northdale Patch for updates as they become available.