Marqui Newton Charged in 2016 Tampa Murder After 10-Year Cold Case Break
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 26
Marqui Newton Charged in 2016 Tampa Murder After 10-Year Cold Case Break
1 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 26
Marqui Newton, 34, was arrested on May 21 in Brevard County and charged with first-degree murder and robbery with a firearm in the 2016 killing of Saadyar Johnson.
Years of cold-case work produced the breakthrough: Hillsborough detectives reworked witness interviews, found previously unknown witnesses in 2025, and used additional DNA testing with state investigators to build enough evidence for a warrant.
Johnson, 36, was shot multiple times outside Tampa's Del Rio Apartments on May 3, 2016, after 911 calls and a ShotSpotter alert; he later died at a hospital and no arrest was made at the time.
Newton was captured with help from the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Marshals fugitive task force, and remains in Brevard County awaiting transfer back to Hillsborough County.
He was an early suspect but was released. What breakthrough led police back to him ten years later?
What new DNA evidence trapped a murder suspect after he walked free for an entire decade?