Tommy Stephens has been charged separately with murder, breach of a protective order and two counts of sexual assault. (Mugshot: Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office)
A murder suspect who allegedly killed a woman without provocation is now charged with sexually assaulting other female victims in separate incidents, including at a cemetery grave.
St. Petersburg, Florida cops allege Tommy Gene Stephens, 52, stabbed Jona Waller, 34, 20 times and dumped her body in an alley on North 37th Street. Someone discovered her on the day of the murder, March 17, 2023, and she was pronounced dead at the scene. This sparked a search for a suspect, which ended with Stephens’ arrest on March 24.
Surveillance footage showed the defendant, Waller, and a man named Kenneth Thorn a block from where Waller was found dead, according to the arrest affidavit.
“The witness, Kenneth Thorn, admitted to seeing the defendant attack the victim without warning, stabbing him repeatedly, which resulted in his death,” police wrote.
Tommy Stephens allegedly stabbed Jona Waller, pictured here, 20 times, police said. (Image: Saint Petersburg Police Department)
Stephens had also been taken into custody on March 24 for allegedly violating a domestic violence protective order, authorities said. He reportedly drove within 500 feet of a certain home on March 21, according to a redacted arrest affidavit.
“The victim advised [redacted] felt “scared to death” that the defendant was looking straight in the eye [redacted] And [redacted] retreated inside [redacted] home,” authorities wrote.
The injunction, filed March 6, is set to expire March 6, 2033, the affidavit states.
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Stephens was first arrested for second-degree murder in connection with Waller’s death, although a grand jury on April 27 ruled it first-degree murder.
Arrest affidavits dated Monday and Tuesday detail Stephens’ latest legal challenges, this time for separate sexual assault cases.
On April 18, 2022, he allegedly followed a victim to a locked grave in Royal Palms Cemetery, knocked her to the ground and sexually assaulted her until she managed to distract him and escape. The redacted affidavit called this sexual battery on a person 12 years of age or older.
Then, on February 16 this year, he allegedly walked into a woman’s room uninvited and naked. The redacted affidavit describes a sexual assault and Stephens allegedly threatened the woman. The document called it a sexual assault against a person 18 or older.
Stephens’ arraignment in the murder case is scheduled for May 22. His defense released a written plea of not guilty on Monday. His defense in the injunction breach case entered a written plea of not guilty on April 19. Access to records in sexual assault cases is currently limited.
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