Polk Jury Convicts TJ Wiggins in 2020 Frostproof Triple Murder; Death Penalty Phase Begins

A Polk County jury has found Tony "TJ" Wiggins guilty on all counts in the July 2020 shooting deaths of three young men who were on their way to go night fishing near Frostproof, setting up a penalty phase in which the same jurors will weigh whether he should be sentenced to death. The verdict was returned at the courthouse in Bartow on Wednesday after roughly two weeks of testimony and less than four hours of deliberation, according to trial coverage of the proceedings.

Wiggins, 32, was convicted of killing Brandon Rollins, 28, Keven Springfield, 30, and Damion Tillman, 23, on July 17, 2020, along Lake Streety Road in rural southeastern Polk County. Prosecutors had filed formal notice that they intend to seek the death penalty, and the penalty phase was expected to begin Thursday, Oct. 1, with the same panel of five men and seven women hearing additional evidence from both sides.

The case is one of the most closely watched homicide prosecutions in Central Florida in recent years. It drew statewide attention in 2020 when Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd described the killings as a cold-blooded ambush and named Wiggins as the alleged shooter. Six years later, the guilty verdict moves the case into the phase of Florida law that has changed the most in the intervening time: how a jury decides between life in prison and death.

What the jury decided

Jurors were asked to decide whether the state had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Wiggins was responsible for the three killings. After two weeks of testimony, they returned guilty verdicts on every count, according to multiple reports from inside the courtroom. Because the case was charged as first-degree murder, the conviction carries only two possible sentences under Florida law: life in prison without the possibility of parole, or death.

Prosecutors presented evidence they said tied Wiggins to the scene on Lake Streety Road, where investigators say Tillman was followed and then shot along with Rollins and Springfield as the three friends headed out to fish. Investigators have long said the confrontation grew out of a dispute over a truck engine. The defense contested the state's account throughout the trial and sought to undercut the credibility of key witnesses.

The verdict arrived quickly relative to the length of the trial. Reports from the courthouse said deliberations took about three hours, a short window for a case involving three victims, two cooperating co-defendants, and years of pretrial litigation. A guilty verdict in Florida must be unanimous, and all twelve jurors agreed on each count.

Wiggins remains entitled to appeal his conviction, and any sentence imposed will be subject to review. If he is sentenced to death, the Florida Supreme Court will automatically review both the conviction and the sentence, as it does in every capital case in the state.

A courtroom outburst and a mistrial request

The trial's final days were marked by an emotional disruption that briefly threatened the proceedings. During the defense's closing argument, Cyril Rollins, the father of victim Brandon Rollins, stood up and shouted as he left the courtroom, according to reports. He said his son had died in his arms and asserted that his son had identified Wiggins as the shooter before he died.

The defense moved for a mistrial, arguing that the outburst exposed jurors to an accusation that had not been tested through the normal rules of evidence. The judge denied the motion. Instead, the court questioned the jurors, and one juror who acknowledged hearing the father's statement about Wiggins was dismissed, allowing deliberations to proceed with the remaining panel.

Courtroom outbursts by grieving relatives are not unusual in high-profile homicide trials, and Florida judges have broad discretion in deciding whether a disruption has tainted a jury. The defense's motion and the judge's ruling create a preserved issue that Wiggins' attorneys could raise on appeal, though appellate courts generally defer to a trial judge's handling of such moments when the judge took steps to cure any potential prejudice, such as removing an affected juror.

Family members of the victims have attended the trial throughout. The mother of one of the victims told reporters after the verdict that she was elated by the outcome, according to coverage of her remarks outside the courthouse.

The 2020 killings and the investigation

The three victims were killed on the night of July 17, 2020, in an unincorporated area near Frostproof, a small citrus town in southeastern Polk County. According to the sheriff's office account at the time, the men had been heading out for a night of fishing when they were confronted and shot. Their bodies were found along Lake Streety Road, a rural stretch surrounded by groves and pasture.

Within days, the Polk County Sheriff's Office announced three arrests. Sheriff Judd identified Tony Wiggins, then 26, as the person investigators believed fired the shots. Also arrested were his brother, William "Robert" Wiggins, then 21, and Mary Whittemore, then 27, who was described at the time as Tony Wiggins' girlfriend. Investigators said surveillance video and witness statements helped them reconstruct the movements of the victims and the suspects in the hours before the shooting.

The case moved slowly through the court system, a pattern common in Florida capital prosecutions, which typically involve extensive discovery, competency and evidentiary hearings, and specialized defense teams. The COVID-19 pandemic also slowed jury trials across the state in 2020 and 2021, contributing to backlogs in serious felony cases in Polk County and elsewhere.

Co-defendants and their deals

Both of Wiggins' co-defendants resolved their cases before trial. Robert Wiggins admitted to driving the vehicle that carried his brother to Lake Streety Road and pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and evidence tampering charges, according to reports on his plea. He agreed to a five-year sentence in exchange for testimony, and a judge later denied his request to withdraw from that plea deal.

Whittemore pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact and also pleaded guilty to perjury, according to reports. She served a four-year prison sentence.

Cooperating co-defendants are a common feature of multi-defendant homicide cases in Florida, and their testimony is often central to the state's case. Defense attorneys typically attack such witnesses by highlighting the benefits they received in exchange for testifying. Jurors are instructed under Florida's standard jury instructions to weigh the testimony of an accomplice with great caution, particularly when that witness has received a reduced sentence.

The disparity between the co-defendants' sentences and the possible death sentence for Tony Wiggins reflects the state's theory that he was the shooter while the others played supporting or after-the-fact roles. That distinction will also matter in the penalty phase, since Florida law allows jurors to consider the relative culpability of participants as part of their weighing of mitigation.

How Florida's penalty phase works now

The penalty phase is governed by Section 921.141 of the Florida Statutes, which the Legislature rewrote in 2023. Under that law, the jury must first unanimously find that the state has proven at least one statutory aggravating factor beyond a reasonable doubt. Aggravating factors can include, among others, that the defendant committed the crime in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner, or that the defendant was previously or contemporaneously convicted of another capital felony, which applies when a single defendant is convicted of multiple murders.

If jurors unanimously find at least one aggravator, they then weigh the aggravating factors against any mitigating circumstances the defense presents, such as the defendant's background, mental health, upbringing, or other factors. Under the 2023 changes, a recommendation of death requires the votes of at least eight of the twelve jurors. If fewer than eight jurors vote for death, the recommendation is life in prison without parole.

Florida is one of only a small number of states that allow a death sentence without a unanimous jury. The Legislature adopted the eight-of-twelve standard in 2023 at the urging of Gov. Ron DeSantis, after the jury in the Parkland school shooting case did not unanimously recommend death and that defendant received life sentences. Before that change, Florida had required unanimous death recommendations since 2017.

After the jury makes its recommendation, the trial judge holds a separate hearing, often called a Spencer hearing, at which both sides can present additional information. The judge then imposes the sentence. Under current law, a judge may impose life even when the jury recommends death, but must explain the reasons in writing. A judge may not impose death if the jury recommends life.

Polk County, capital cases and statewide context

The case is being prosecuted by the Office of the State Attorney for Florida's Tenth Judicial Circuit, which covers Polk, Hardee and Highlands counties. Polk County, with a fast-growing population of more than 800,000 people between Tampa and Orlando, has a long history of capital prosecutions and a sheriff who is one of the most visible law enforcement figures in the state.

The Wiggins verdict comes during a year in which Florida's death penalty has drawn national attention. The state has carried out more executions in 2026 than any other state, and Gov. DeSantis has continued to sign death warrants at a record pace. That backdrop does not affect the legal questions before the Wiggins jury, but it illustrates how central capital punishment has become to Florida's criminal justice landscape.

Defense attorneys and capital punishment opponents have criticized the non-unanimous jury standard, arguing that it increases the risk of wrongful or arbitrary death sentences. Supporters, including prosecutors and victims' families, have argued that it prevents a single juror from blocking a sentence they believe is warranted in the most aggravated cases. New death sentences under the eight-of-twelve rule are now working their way toward review by the Florida Supreme Court.

What's next

The penalty phase was scheduled to begin Thursday, Oct. 1, in Bartow. Prosecutors are expected to present evidence supporting aggravating factors, which in a triple homicide is likely to include the contemporaneous convictions for the other killings. The defense will present mitigation evidence intended to persuade jurors to recommend life in prison.

Once the jury returns its recommendation, the judge will schedule a Spencer hearing and a formal sentencing date. Families of the victims may also deliver victim impact statements, which Florida law allows the state to present during the penalty phase within limits set by the court.

If Wiggins is sentenced to death, his case will go directly to the Florida Supreme Court for mandatory review. If he receives life sentences, he can still appeal his convictions to Florida's Sixth District Court of Appeal, which now hears appeals from Polk County. Either way, the verdict marks the end of the trial-level fight over guilt in a case that has shadowed Frostproof for six years.