Man arrested in Tampa double homicide shot ex-wife and man she was dating, records state
A man arrested in a double fatal shooting at a Tampa apartment complex over the weekend told police he ambushed and shot his ex-wife and a man she was dating because he was angry about things they’d said about him, a court document shows.
Tampa police arrested Robert Lee Craig-Webb, 65, on two counts of first-degree murder and armed burglary after responding to a shooting Saturday afternoon at the Trio at Encore apartments just north of downtown. Craig-Webb turned himself in shortly after the shooting.
On Monday, Tampa police identified one of the victims, 60-year-old Eugenia Craig-Webb, who was married to Robert Craig-Webb for about 30 years until they divorced in 2021.
A police spokesperson said Monday that detectives were still working to notify the other victim’s family. Police on Tuesday identified him as Barry Singleton, 60, of Memphis, Tennessee.
An arrest affidavit was not available Monday, but a motion for pretrial detention filed by the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office sheds more light on the investigation and what Craig-Webb told police after he was arrested. The motion identifies Singleton only by his initials.
Police responded to the apartment complex on the 1100 block of Ray Charles Boulevard about 1:15 p.m. after receiving a 911 call about two people who had been shot. Officers found the bodies of Eugenia Craig-Webb and Singleton on the floor of a fourth-floor hallway. Both had been shot multiple times.
While police were still at the scene, Robert Craig-Webb contacted a Tampa police officer and said, “I’m the shooter,” according to the motion. He was in possession of a .45-caliber pistol.
A daughter of Robert Craig-Webb and Eugenia Craig-Webb told police that Robert and Eugenia had been married for a long time before divorcing and that Robert was jealous of Eugenia, according to the motion. The daughter is identified in the motion only as “Witness #1.”
Court records show Robert and Eugenia married in 1991 and that Eugenia filed for divorce in 2021.
The daughter told police that Robert continued to live at the Encore apartment after the divorce due to a housing issue, then moved out in August, according to the motion. Eugenia did not want to have contact with Robert, so she blocked his number on her phone, the daughter said.
On May 27, the daughter told Robert Craig-Webb that Eugenia was dating Singleton. At Robert’s request, the daughter contacted Eugenia and asked why she was mad at him. Eugenia told her daughter “it was because of things Defendant did to her in the past, and she said that Defendant made (her) feel ill,” the motion states.
The daughter told police she’d been at the apartment earlier in the day Saturday with her husband and their four children. While on the way home, she got a call from Robert Craig-Webb’s sister, who said he’d just called and said he’d shot his ex-wife and Singleton.
In an interview with detectives, Robert confirmed he’d asked his daughter to call her mother and ask why she was mad at him. Robert Craig-Webb said his daughter also said that Eugenia told her she hated him and didn’t care if he was homeless. Robert Craig-Webb also claimed Singleton was spreading a rumor that he had been dishonorably discharged from the military.
“Defendant said he was angry with Victim #1 and Victim #2 over their statements about him,” the motion states.
Robert Craig-Webb said he loaded his pistol and went to the apartment complex and parked in its garage. He said he saw Eugenia, their daughter, her husband and their children leaving, but he did not confront Eugenia there because he didn’t want to make a scene.
He then took the stairs to the building’s second floor, then rode an elevator to the fourth floor and waited outside his ex-wife’s apartment. He said he hadn’t been there long when she and Singleton came out of the apartment.
Craig-Webb said he approached the couple from behind and said, “Hey, you!” to get their attention and then shot Singleton, according to the motion. When Singleton fell to the ground, Craig-Webb then shot his ex-wife, the motion states. He said he was about 4 feet away from the couple when he opened fire.
Craig-Webb said he then went to his car, parked it on North Morgan Street and walked back to the complex and turned himself in.
Doorbell camera footage from the apartment showed Eugenia Craig-Webb and Singleton leave the apartment with drinks in their hands. Police found 11 spent .45-caliber shell casings at the scene.
Robert Craig-Webb’s son, whose name is not included in the motion, told police that his father on prior occasions had threatened to kill Eugenia and had previously been arrested for domestic violence in Tennessee.
The motion notes that in 2000, Robert Craig-Webb was arrested in Hillsborough County on a domestic battery charge and that Eugenia Craig-Webb appeared to be the victim in that case, which was later dismissed. In 2011, Craig-Webb was arrested on a charge of aggravated assault with a weapon. That charge was later dropped. An arrest affidavit in that case states that Craig-Webb swung a tire iron at his daughter’s boyfriend after the two men got into a fight.
Prosecutors argue in the motion that Craig-Webb is a danger to the community and should be held in jail until his case is resolved. A hearing on the motion is set for Tuesday. Records show he has been appointed a public defender.