Suspect Came To His Apartment
TAMPA – Charles Smith says that as soon as he saw the news of the stabbing on his computer Wednesday afternoon, he knew his “creepy” former co-worker would show up at his door.
That night, his premonition came true.
James Kenneth McElroy, who deputies say stabbed his father to death and seriously wounded his mother and sister, pulled up to Smith’s Town ‘N Country apartment in his Jaguar. So Smith and a neighbor, an ex-Marine, worked out a plan to turn McElroy over to authorities, Smith says.
It was the right thing to do, he says.
But there was another reason.
“I need rent money,” he says. “I really could use the reward.”
About eight hours earlier, Melissa McElroy, 18, woke up and heard her mother screaming, deputies say.
It was just after 4 a.m. at the family’s house at 11309 Hollyglen Drive in Tampa, Melissa stepped outside her bedroom and saw her twin sister, Michelle, bleeding from the arms and chest, according to a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office report, which describes what happened next.
After seeing her sister, Melissa locked herself in a bedroom of their Plantation area home and called 911. Then she climbed out the bedroom window.
Standing outside her house, Melissa saw her brother, James Kenneth McElroy, 21, get into his 1989 blue Jaguar and drive away.
Melissa ran to a neighbor’s house. The neighbor called 911.
Then she returned to her house to find her father, James, 50, mother, Karen, 54, and sister bleeding profusely.
Her father later died. Her mother and sister were taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital, where they are in critical condition.
Those who know the family describe the sisters as smart, popular, hardworking teens.
“I went to school with Melissa and Michelle and worked with them at McDonald’s,” says Jessica Cuzzi, 18, of Tampa, who says she was a classmate of the three McElroy children at Jefferson High School.
“They always had a good relationship with each other and they were pretty good in school. They were nice and knew everybody. I trained both sisters at McDonald’s.”
Cuzzi says she knew James McElroy as well – even before realizing he was the twins’ brother.
“I didn’t even know he was their brother until I went to their house about three years after meeting him,” she says. “James was always quiet. I used to sit at a lunch table with him. He was always quiet, the creepy boy at school. He dressed gothic and dark and never said anything to anybody.”
‘He Was Crazy’
Smith and McElroy met about six months ago, Smith says. McElroy was working at a nearby Pizza Hut. Smith says he would visit the restaurant frequently and struck up an acquaintanceship with McElroy. Eventually, the two became co-workers and would get together a couple of times a month, usually with a group of friends.
Usually, Smith says, they would hang out at Smith’s apartment, watching TV or playing the video game “Halo,” a futuristic first-person shooter.
McElroy never talked about his family, never mentioned a girlfriend.
He often talked about physics, Smith says. “He was really smart.”
But McElroy made most of the other people in their group uncomfortable, Smith says.
“He was eccentric,” he says. “He believes he is a psychic. One time, he asked a friend, ‘Have I ever hypnotized you without you knowing?’ Right there, that just told me he was crazy.”
But not violent.
Smith says there was never any indication that McElroy could hurt anyone.
Still, there were indications something was not quite right about McElroy, Smith says.
He spoke about conspiracy theories, Smith says. About how the government was behind 9/11.
After staying with friends for a short period about five months ago, McElroy was asked to leave because a third roommate had returned.
One time, when the roommates came back from a night out, McElroy was sitting in their living room, even though the doors were locked. He eventually left, but the roommates, Smith says, learned to lock all the windows, too. McElroy never returned.
But McElroy would often show up at Smith’s unit at Camden Woods Apartments off West Hillsborough Avenue.
“Most people didn’t like to talk to him because he was really weird,” Smith says. “But being the kind of person I am, I kind of try and help people out. I was trying to be his friend when no one else was trying.”
On Tuesday night, Smith says, McElroy did what he often did.
He just showed up.
“It was normal,” he says. “He was just acting like himself. We were watching TV, playing video games. But I didn’t like hanging out with him, so I made up an excuse that I had to go to school.”
McElroy left about 11:30 p.m., says Smith, who didn’t wake up until noon the next day.
When he did, his roommate, Robert Patterson, asked him to come to the computer.
“He said, ‘You have to see this article about James,’” Smith says.
Smith says he was shocked, “but I had a gut feeling that he was going to come back to my house later that day.”
Patterson and the rest of his friends discounted that hunch, Smith says.
“They said he would kill himself or run away,” Smith says.
But at 9:30 p.m., McElroy knocked on the door. Patterson wouldn’t let him in.
Turning In A Co-Worker
A while later, Smith arrived with his mother, Rebecca. Patterson told him about McElroy’s visit. Smith told his mother to stay inside while he went out to see whether McElroy was still there.
He was, Smith says, in his blue Jaguar.
Smith says he turned around and called 911.
“Get here as fast as you can,” he told them.
Then Smith told a neighbor, Gary Perez, that McElroy was there and he might need help.
Smith says he and Perez feigned walking to the laundry room. Then they heard footsteps.
It was McElroy.
“He was acting calm, like everything was normal, like he never did anything,” Smith says. “He said he had been driving around, just driving around ever since leaving my apartment the night before.”
The three walked to the laundry and then back to Smith’s apartment, Smith says.
On the way back, deputies pulled up. Standing on either side of McElroy, Smith says he and Perez pointed at the murder suspect.
A deputy shined a laser sight on McElroy’s forehead and told him to get down on the ground. Then they arrested him.
McElroy was charged with one count of first-degree murder and two counts of first-degree attempted murder. He also was charged with possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia, both felonies. After being arrested, McElroy told deputies he had some marijuana in a bag in his wallet, according to an affidavit.
He is being held at the Orient Road Jail with no bail set.
No Second Thoughts
Smith says he didn’t even think twice about what he did.
“I wasn’t scared,” Smith says. “I knew that, at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, I could overpower him if I had to.”
Smith’s mother says she was terrified for her son – and proud.
“That’s the kind of person he is,” she says. “Always trying to help people.”
But aside from being a good person, Rebecca Smith says her son is hard up for cash. Usually, she says she and her husband help him make ends meet, but times are tough, and they couldn’t help this month.
Unfortunately for Smith, there will be no reward, Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Debbie Carter says.
While unable to talk specifically about this case, she says the reason is because the call tipping off deputies about McElroy came into 911.
To get a reward, people have to call Crime Stoppers, she says.
Though Smith won’t be getting a reward, he may be getting some help.
Jason Miracle, assistant director of admissions at South University, says he is taking up a collection to help pay Smith’s rent.
Miracle says he expects to raise at least $200, and will chip in $50 himself.
