Father of Tampa murder victim says someone knows his daughter's killer
— -- The father of 32-year-old Monica Hoffa, who was gunned down in one of three unsolved murders in Tampa, Florida, in the past two weeks, is asking his community to speak out and give up anyone who is responsible for or has information on her death.
"I know they are afraid. I know people are probably worried that they are going to be next," Kenny Hoffa said in an interview with ABC affiliate WFTS on Monday. "But people need to step out, and they to identify this guy so we can get him off the street."
Monica Hoffa's body was found on Oct. 13 in a vacant lot in the quiet Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa, authorities said. She was found about a half-mile from where two men — Benjamin Mitchell, 22, and Anthony Naiboa, 20 — were killed this month, according to the Tampa Police Department. Police say they believe the murders are connected.
Police said that the shootings are linked by proximity and time frame but that they haven't found a motive or a suspect. Officials said the victims did not appear to know one another and they were not robbed.
Kenny Hoffa said he is heartbroken and outraged over the murders.
"I am angrier than I've ever been in my life. There is just no words can tell you how upset I am," he said. "There's two other families that are suffering just like our family is suffering, and those two families need vengeance just like we do."
"I need that Seminole Heights community to stand up, and I need them to point out who that man is," he added.
Monica Hoffa, who spent a lot of her time interpreting for her deaf mother, her dad said, was walking to meet a friend when she was shot and killed by an unknown person around 8:45 p.m on Oct. 11, according to police.
"Because my daughter made a difference in this world, I just hate it that someone took that from the world and me," Kenny Hoffa said. "She had a great sense of humor ... She was a good person."
The murders have put the Seminole Heights community on edge.
"I'm afraid," Maria Maldonado, who lives near two of the shooting sites, told the Associated Press on Monday. She said she won't let her 7-year-old son play in the yard.
"We don't open the door or nothing. A lot of people are scared. I'm scared for my son, for the neighborhood," Maldonado said.
Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan told ABC News that he has advised officers to be extremely vigilant.
"When I spoke to the guys at the briefing, I told them that everybody out there is a potential suspect or a potential victim and [you] need to think like that," he said. "We have someone terrorizing the neighborhood."
Dugan said residents should not live in fear but suggested that they turn their porch lights on, go out in groups and "do cookouts."
A reward of up to $25,000 is being offered by Crime Stoppers of Tampa and the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for any information that leads to the arrest of a suspect in the case.
ABC News' M.L. Nestel contributed to this report.
