HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Prosecutors with the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office obtained indictments from a grand jury charging Robert Kessler and Ja’Marion Strange with first-degree murder in two unrelated cases.
Kessler, 69, is accused of killing 47-year-old Stephanie Crone-Overholts, then dumping her dismembered body into McKay Bay in November. Tampa police arrested Kessler for second-degree murder.
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A grand jury also handed down a first-degree murder charge for 16-year-old Ja’Marion Strange. Strange is accused of shooting a 13-year-old boy outside of an East Tampa community center on Nov. 23. The indictment automatically places Strange into the adult court system.
“While these two cases aren’t related, both have shocked our community—the horrific nature of a mother’s murder and the senseless killing of a child. We will do everything in our power to hold these killers accountable for the lives they took and the anguish they have caused for the families of their victims,” Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren said.
Both prosecutions are in their early stages. The State has not determined whether it will seek the death penalty in Kessler's case.
