Veteran Tampa homicide prosecutors take new roles in state attorney’s office

TAMPA — Two of Tampa’s longest-tenured homicide prosecutors will take on new roles at the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office.

John Terry, a prosecutor for more than 30 years, will become the chief of the office’s major crimes unit, a newly created supervisory position in which he will lead the team that focuses on homicides, DUI manslaughter and gun violence cases.

Scott Harmon, one the office’s most recognizable faces having tackled some of its highest-profile cases, will be the office’s death penalty specialist.

The office of Hillsborough State Attorney Suzy Lopez announced the changes in a news release Tuesday. In the release, Lopez said the new roles are partly designed to enhance the agency’s relationship with law enforcement, which she has made a priority since she was appointed to the job by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2022. She has continued to tout support for law enforcement as she campaigns to remain in office in this year’s election.

Terry and Harmon will also use the new roles to share their knowledge and experience with a younger generation of prosecutors, the release said.

Both previously served in the major crimes unit, handling mostly homicide cases.

Harmon is known and sought after for his expertise in death penalty litigation. He led the state’s case against Granville Ritchie, who was convicted in 2019 for the rape and murder of 9-year-old Felecia Williams. Harmon’s impassioned arguments in the trial’s penalty phase helped secure a death sentence against Ritchie. Harmon was also at the forefront of the case against Dontae Morris, who was sentenced to death for the 2010 murders of two Tampa police officers.

Beyond capital murder cases, Harmon has experience guiding prosecutions that present challenging circumstances. He was the lead attorney in the homicide cases involving the 2017 heroin overdose death of 17-year-old Katie Golden, one of the first local drug-induced homicide cases prosecutors pursued. One of the difficulties involved proving where, when and from whom Golden obtained the lethal drugs. The state ultimately secured a manslaughter conviction against the man who provided them.

Harmon has practiced law in Hillsborough County since 1998. He holds a law degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University.

Terry, who joined the state attorney’s office in 1992, has handled some of its biggest homicide cases, including more than 150 jury trials. He was the lead prosecutor in the trial of Nicole Nachtman, a young woman who murdered her mother and stepfather in 2015. Terry persuaded a jury to reject Nachtman’s insanity defense in 2019.

In 2021, he helped secure convictions against Tyrone Johnson for the murders of Johnson’s girlfriend and 10-year-old son. Johnson later was sentenced to death.

A Tampa native, Terry holds a law degree from Emory University and is board-certified in criminal trial law.