Father of murdered teen hopes to stop another tragedy

Sunday, December 10, 2006

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Stephen Tomlinson was murdered Dec. 8, 2005 in Logan Gate Park.

A year after the murder of a Carrollwood teenager, changes are on the way at the park where he was killed.

Stephen Tomlinson, 13, was killed at Logan Gate Park in Hillsborough County on Dec. 8, 2005.

Since then, Tomlinson's father, Ron Tomlinson, has been demanding lighting and other improvements be made so another child doesn't die there.

Stephen Tomlinson was strangled behind the thick bushes that surround the park. The night was a dark one and the park has only one light. It wasn't working that night.

Since then, Ron Tomlinson has led the crusade to make the park safer.

"Put some lights back there," Tomlinson said. "Make some security. Do it the right way."

Ron Tomlinson wants to prevent a similar tragedy at the park.

It's been a long process with a few community meetings, but Hillsborough County's parks department finally has the money to make some improvements. The county says it will make $170,000 in improvements at Logan Gate Park by spring 2007.

"We're going to put a dog park in," said John Brill, a spokesperson for the Hillsborough County Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department. "We're going to remove some of the underbrush, do some improved lighting for security purposes, improve the restroom, take a look at the parking lot and try to fix that up a little bit and give a facelift to the park."

Tomlinson says that's not enough.

"I think there should be a baseball field and something nice for people," he said.

Tomlinson also wants the county to get rid of some of the bushes that surround the park. He believes that could have prevented his son's death last year. Tomlinson also said he won't stop fighting until there's more security at the park to keep people from lingering in the park after hours.

"They need to pass a law that the park will close at sundown and they need to make people leave," Tomlinson said. "They don't do a good job of it."

Tomlinson said he'll take his fight to state lawmakers if necessary.

A public meeting to talk about the plans for Logan Gate Park will take place at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 11 at the Carrollwood Meadows Recreation Center.

Ron Tomlinson is also waiting to find out what happens to the man accused of killing his son. Twenty-year-old Joshua Rosa has been charged with Stephen Tomlinson's murder. Rosa returns to court Jan. 17 and a trial date is expected to be set then.

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