TAMPA, Fla. — A man is facing charges, including first-degree murder, after police connected him to an incident involving a body found near a Tampa storage facility.
Tampa police say they responded to a report of a dead person found just before noon Friday in the area of Dona Michelle Drive near the New Tampa Nature Park.
Authorities say they found the body of a 35-year-old man "in an advanced stage of decomposition." While investigating, police found a Florida driver's license to positively identify the man, but they did not release his identity.
Police later learned the man was living in his 2006 Dodge Charger for some time before the incident, and discovered the car was being driven by someone else.
The following day, investigators reportedly located the dead man's car at a house where 29-year-old Andre Aris was living. Police then took Aris into custody.
Aris told authorities he met the 35-year-old one month before the incident. He also claimed that the unidentified man gave him the Charger to sell a week prior.
In another interview with detectives, Aris told them that the person who sold the vehicle to him did not look like the person officials found dead. However, officials say Aris had several of the man's photo ID cards.
Police continued investigating with a search warrant at the storage facility and a nearby hotel. They say enough evidence was found to connect Aris to the murder.
Aris has been charged with one count each of first-degree murder and grand theft motor vehicle. He has been booked into the Orient Road Jail.