Crime & Safety

Suspect in Teen's Birthday Party Shooting Death Nabbed

Tampa Police say they have Joseph Huggins in custody.

The man wanted in connection with the fatal shooting of a 14-year-old boy in attendance at a March outdoor birthday party has been arrested.

The Tampa Police Department announced Monday morning that it and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force managed to catch up with Joseph Huggins, 22.

An arrest warrant for Huggins was issued last week in relation to the March 21 shooting that left Richard Newton, 14, an eighth-grader at Van Buren Middle School, dead. The shooting occurred around 10:30 p.m. at 8105 9th Ave. Police at the time said a fight broke out at the party and shots were fired with one of those bullets striking Newton. The teenager died at the scene, police said.

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Huggins faces second-degree murder charges. He had not yet been booked into the Hillsborough County Jail as of Monday morning.

No further details are available.

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Photo of Joseph Huggins courtesy of the Tampa Police Department

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