A 16-year-old is now facing first-degree murder charges following a late-night shooting in Ruskin that left one young man dead and a woman hospitalized. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced the upgraded charges against James Middlebrooks on March 19, 2026, marking a major turning point in the investigation that began earlier this week.
The incident unfolded in the early hours of Sunday, March 15. At 1:19 a.m., dispatchers received a call reporting gunfire in the 5000 block of White Chicory Drive in Apollo Beach.
When deputies arrived on the scene, they discovered a vehicle had crashed in a ditch along 19th Avenue Northeast…