Hours after a man was taken into custody in connection to the slayings of four Seminole Heights residents, Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan was emphatic: "I assure you, this is the man that did this."

For 51 days, the Seminole Heights community was on edge.

Some of the fear, tension and uncertainty has now been lifted with the arrest of a man in connection to the slayings of four people. 

Church bells rang out overnight at Seminole Heights United Methodist Church after news of the arrest of Howell Emanuel Donaldson III on Tuesday evening. 

The 24-year-old McDonald's worker was taken into custody at the Ybor City restaurant where he worked after he gave a coworker a bag with a gun in it and said he had to leave town. The coworker contacted a police officer, and Donaldson was detained upon returning the eatery. 

Donaldson is facing four counts of first-degree murder. 

Residents and police had been on edge since Oct. 9, when 22-year-old Benjamin Mitchell was shot to death. Two days later, 32-year-old Monica Hoffa was slain. And on Oct. 19, Anthony Naiboa, 20, was killed after taking the wrong bus home from his new job. On Nov. 14, 60-year-old Ronald Felton was killed.

Police begin questioning suspect

Late Wednesday morning, Dugan described what led to the arrest, Donaldson's demeanor and details of police questioning. 

Dugan said the call from the coworker, who did not know the gun was related to the Seminole Heights killings at the time, was crucial. 

The chief said the discovery of the gun and matching ballistics was the break that law enforcement had been waiting for. It did not take long to match the gun to all four killings, he said. Law enforcement was waiting for Donaldson when he returned to the McDonald's on Tuesday evening.

Dugan said that Donaldson was cooperative with police and admitted to owning the gun but not the shootings. Donaldson was calm and did not answer the biggest question that remains:

Why?

"Our work is just beginning now," Dugan said. "This is an ongoing investigation, but no, he did not tell us why he was doing this."

That led to other questions at the news conference about prosecution and what type of sentence Donaldson could receive. Dugan and Buckhorn quickly downplayed that, adding that it was too early to speculate on a motive or if and when a trial would take place.

Still, "I want the process to take its place," Buckhorn said. "I think that's appropriate. At the end of this, if he is found to be guilty, he should die. It's that simple."

Gov. Rick Scott thanks Tampa Police

On Wednesday morning, Florida Gov. Rick Scott thanked Tampa police for their tireless efforts. 

In addition to Scott, Buckhorn and Dugan spoke at an early morning news conference, along with Florida Highway Patrol and representatives from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

"My heart goes out to these poor families," Scott said. "I was so happy that this individual was stopped and caught and that someone else did not get hurt. Thanks again to the mayor to the chief and everyone in law enforcement that helped catch this suspect." 

Buckhorn credited the cooperation between agencies and a tip from the public in reeling in a suspect. 

"We would not have solved this case without (all of the agencies), the FBI, the ATF... Everyone was focused on bringing justice to those four families," Buckhorn said. "We would not be here having apprehended this individual had it not been for the team effort taking place the last 51 days." 

Families of victims react

Family members of the victims said they felt like today was the first day they could breathe easily since their loved ones were killed.

James Felton, whose brother Ronnie was the fourth murder victim, told us he hasn't been able to thnk about anything else except the relief he feels now.

"I'm rejoicing," Felton said. "I mean, ever since I woke up at 5:30 this morning and 'til now, I can't even sleep."

But for others connected to the victims, there is a great emptiness that the arrest could not fill. There are spaces the victims once filled with life that are now silent and vacant -- the spot at the food bank where Ronnie Felton helped to feed the hungry, the empty seats where Benjamin Mitchell, Anthony Naiboa and Michelle Hoffa rode the bus, to name a few.

"Everyday I still go without Monica," said Hoffa's uncle, Robert. "Y’know, she would come to our house for Super Bowl parties and different things. We’d visit here all the time. She was such s brightness to this community."

"I got his room, Anthony’s room. His TV’s still there," said Casimar Naiboa, Anthony's father. "Sometimes we turn on, we still turn on his favorite programs."

All that's left for these families to attempt to fill the emptiness is the hope that justice will be done. The families, however, expressed different opinions on what form that justice should take for the killer.

"This guy shouldn't be living, eating three times a day, watching TV," said Casimar.

"Our biggest problem is we give these people the death penalty and we don't follow through with it," Hoffa told us. "They appeal, appeal, appeal."

"We found them guilty once," he continued. "Get it over with. Let us rest. That's all I'm asking -- let us rest."

"Whatever they do to him, not the death," said Felton. "I want him to have a life. Just give him life, so he can think about at a young age. If he looks at it on TV and see others doing it and say 'Did I do that?' and look at himself doing stuff like that and say, 'Did I do that?' And so that way he’ll have a long term of look at what he done."

Timeline of the murders