SUNCOAST PRISON INMATE INDICTED FOR FIRST DEGREE MURDER BY GRAND JURY

State Attorney Amira Fox Press Release

State Attorney Amira Fox convened the Charlotte County Grand Jury and they have returned an indictment against William Tulenko for First-Degree Murder for the murder of inmate James Lindsey Howze at the Charlotte Correctional Institution (CCI) on February 29, 2024.

The defendant and victim were incarcerated at CCI at the time of the murder. The Office of the Inspector General investigated the murder and then the case was turned over to the State Attorney’s Office for review.

Chief Assistant State Attorney Richard Montecalvo and Charlotte County Deputy Chief Assistant State Attorney Shannon Doolity are prosecuting the case.

The victim was in a cell with the defendant at the time of the crime and died from strangulation.

The indictment reads in part, “the defendant did unlawfully from a premeditated design to effect the death of a human being, kill and murder James Lindsey Howze, a human being, by strangulation, contrary to Florida Statute 782.04(1).

“I want to thank the Charlotte County Grand Jury for their attention to the details of this case during the Grand Jury proceeding today. I fully realize that looking at evidence of this graphic nature is not easy to do,” said State Attorney Fox.

At the time this offense occurred, the defendant had a murder case pending in Santa Rosa County, Florida for killing an inmate. He received a life sentence on that charge in Santa Rosa County on June

7, 2024.

The victim was incarcerated at CCI serving a life sentence for murder, home invasion robbery and kidnapping. He also had a pending murder case for killing an inmate in Franklin County, Florida