Florida deputies solve cold case murder after new DNA evidence and witnesses emerge, police say
A long-stalled murder case has been solved a decade after a Tampa man was riddled with bullets outside an apartment complex, Florida deputies say.
Saadyar “Sy” Johnson, 36, was shot and killed on May 3, 2016, at the Del Rio Apartments on North 50th Street after deputies were flooded with 911 calls and a ShotSpotter alert for gunfire, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO).
Johnson was rushed to the hospital with multiple gunshot wounds but later died. His death was ruled a homicide, and no immediate arrests took place.
Investigators believed Johnson had been targeted during an armed robbery and early leads pointed to Marqui Newton, now 34.
But despite suspicions, detectives said they did not have enough evidence at the time to charge him.
That changed after HCSO’s Cold Case Unit spent years chasing leads, reworking witness interviews and using new forensic testing.
In 2025, investigators tracked down previously unknown witnesses and sat down again with people they had already interviewed.
Additional DNA testing, conducted with help from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, also helped push the cold case forward.
On May 20, 2026, detectives obtained a warrant charging Newton with felony first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm.
A day later, Newton was arrested in Brevard County with help from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office and the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force.
“No matter how much time passes, we will never stop seeking justice for victims and their families,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said, calling the arrest the result of “years of relentless investigative work.”
“We hope this arrest brings some measure of closure to those who have waited nearly a decade for answers,” he said.
Newton remains in Brevard County pending transport back to Hillsborough County, where he will face the decade-old murder case.
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