TAMPA, FLORIDA: Authorities announced that another Florida man was detained this week in connection to the murder of a young mother of two who was fatally shot in the back in her own car in late July. The victim tragically lost her life in front of her grandmother’s home on Orange Street.
“This arrest is another example of the tenacity with which our detectives continue to pursue leads to crimes here in Hillsborough County,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said on Monday, August 14. “Our team works each tip relentlessly to remove any danger they can to the community that we serve.”
Who is Phillip Stapleton?
In a press release, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said that 32-year-old Phillip Stapleton is accused of one count each of principal to murder in the first degree and conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.
According to the HCSO, the first man arrested in the case, Aurelio Diaz, Jr, 32, stands accused of one count of premeditated murder in the first degree for the murder of Ashley Voss, 22 on July 20. In the moments before her tragic demise, Voss told Stapleton, who is the father of her younger boy, that she had decided to hang out in her car after work because it was “too comfortable” there in text conversation.
“Detectives noted the victim was sitting on her cellular phone, which was powered on,” a criminal report affidavit in Diaz’s case reads. “Detectives were able to access the phone and confirm numerous back-and-forth text messages.”
Stapleton claimed Diaz killed the mother of his child
The affidavit states that Stapleton said that Diaz had fatally shot Voss in a series of interviews with police immediately after the shooting. He further added that he only instructed Diaz to “prank” her by defecating on her grandmother’s front doorstep.
The accused then a witness against Diaz, admitted to driving him to the neighborhood but alleged that he never discussed any kind of violence against Voss. “[Stapleton] stated when he picked up the defendant they planned to go to the victim’s residence and for the defendant to defecate on the victim’s front porch,” the affidavit reads.
It continued, "[Stapleton] pointed out the victim’s residence, and the defendant later exited the witness’ vehicle to defecate on the victim’s porch. [Stapleton] stated at no time did he talk to the defendant about killing the victim, shooting the victim, or harming the victim. They were only playing a ‘prank’ to have the defendant defecate on the victim’s porch.”
Why did Stapleton claim the life of Voss?
“Through the course of [an] interview with the victim’s family it was learned that the victim’s child’s father, later identified as the witness, Phillip Stapleton, had threatened her in reference to an ongoing child support issue,” that law enforcement document reads.
According to the affidavit, Stapleton made a “controlled phone call” to Diaz that was recorded by law enforcement. Diaz, at one point during the call, allegedly told Stapleton: “I did it just like I told you, walked up to the back window, and boom.” However, Voss' family never bought to Stapleton's claims regarding the lack or no involvement to the victim's death.
“There was no motive,” Rhonda Voss, the deceased’s grandmother, told Tampa Bay-based Fox affiliate WTVT. “Diaz did not know, actually her. Well, he knew her, but they were not close. You know, it’s not something where something could have happened or something could have transpired that would have made him murder her.”
Who is taking care of the victim's children?
Voss' grandmother is taking care of the 22-month-old who just lost his mother and her maternal grandmother is taking care of the 4-year-old. The victim’s family has set up a GoFundMe to collect the cost of funeral expenses and to help provide for the children.
Diaz is being detained in the Hillsborough County Falkenburg Road Jail without bond. Stapleton briefly appeared in Pasco County booking records but is being extradited back to Hillsborough County.
