Joshua Rosa - Murder of Stephen Tomlinson

Murder of Stephen Tomlinson

On December 8, 2005, the body of 13-year-old Stephen Tomlinson was discovered in a secluded section of Logan Gate Park a couple of blocks from where Rosa lived in Tampa. Rosa was seen in the park on the night that Tomlinson's body was discovered. Witnesses in the park claim that they saw Rosa jogging in the park that night with a flashlight and wearing white gloves. Rosa was wearing black and seen running from the park, yelling, "Call the cops! I need help!" While Rosa called 9-1-1, a neighbor and a number of kids ran into the park and found Tomlinson's body with a bicycle nearby. When the neighbors arrived, they saw Tomlinson bleeding from the mouth, nose, ears and eyes. Tomlinson's pants were also halfway down and one of the neighbors tried giving Stephen cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but he died in the neighbor's arms. Deputies from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene immediately.

When questioned by the Deputies, Rosa stated that he was in the park jogging and then came across Tomlinson's body. Rosa could not provide any valid reasons at all as to why he was wearing white gloves or why he was carrying a flashlight. Blood stains were discovered on both the gloves and on Rosa's jogging pants. Deputies seized a nail clipper that Rosa voluntarily pulled out of his pocket and surrendered to the deputies. When questioned about the nail clippers, Rosa could not provide a reason for why he had the nail clippers in his pocket. Rosa was detained by detectives where he was questioned further but was let go on the same night. This outraged a lot of the neighbors since they believed that Rosa was the perpetrator behind the murder. Rosa continued to remain cooperative as the investigation continued. Even though Rosa was let go by the detectives, he was still considered a person of interest in the case and the prime suspect. Rosa was kept under constant surveillance and a search and seizure warrant was obtained on Rosa's home where his computer, clothes and other evidence were seized. The cause of death was ruled manual strangulation.