Meet Tony "T.J." Wiggins, 26, Has 230 Previous Felony Charges, Arrested for 3 Murders




Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said detectives have arrested two men and a woman responsible for the fatal shootings of three friends found dead while they were headed to a fishing trip near Frostproof on Friday night.

At a news conference Wednesday, Judd identified the suspects as Tony “T.J.” Wiggins, 26; his girlfriend Mary Whittemore, 27; and Wiggins’ brother William “Robert” Wiggins, 21.

Tony Wiggins was first arrested at age 12 and has a history of 230 felony charges including battery and weapons charges, Judd said. He has been convicted 15 times and served two terms in state prison, Judd said.

“He’s wild and he’s out of control.  He's pure evil in the flesh," the sheriff said.

A video recording shows that the fatal encounter apparently began when the victims and suspects ran into each other Friday night at a nearby Dollar General Store, Judd said. In describing the shooting scene, the sheriff said T.J. Wiggins screamed at one of the victims, “You stole the engine out of my truck.”

“The only evidence we have,” Judd said, “is that T.J. is mad over some kind of truck deal that happened a long time ago.”

All the suspects and victims are from the Lake Wales and Frostproof area.

The victims were beaten and shot to death as they were heading to Lake Streety near Frostproof to go fishing, Judd said. They are Damion Tillman, 23, Keven Springfield, 30, and Brandon Rollins, 27.

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