Cicelia Shanz Thomas, 27, was arrested by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on Monday on a manslaughter charge after deputies say she shot Oliver, 42. Thomas admitted to deputies that she pointed the gun at Oliver, knowing the gun was loaded, and pulled the trigger, according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, on Aug. 6, around 8 p.m., Oliver and a 42-year-old man were outside shooting pellets at a dartboard in front of a home in the 12700 block of N Central Avenue in Tampa. After a few minutes, Thomas came outside aiming a silver gun at the dartboard.
Both Oliver and the 42-year-old shouted their concern and told Thomas to put the gun back in the house. The 42-year-old watched as Thomas went back inside the house with the gun, and Oliver followed.
Five or 10 minutes passed, the affidavit states, when the man heard a gunshot. Minutes later, he saw someone pacing inside the home.
According to the affidavit, Thomas later came outside and told the 42-year-old that Oliver accidentally shot himself, but he was “alright.” She told the 42-year-old she had called an ambulance and that he could leave.
The 42-year-old left the house and went to his home about a mile away. According to the affidavit, the man intended to call 911 when he got home because he didn’t have his phone with him at the time of shooting. A short time later, the man went back to the Central Avenue home. When he arrived at 10:30 p.m. there were no ambulances and the house looked empty, the affidavit said.
The 42-year-old knocked on the door multiple times, but there was no answer. The man was scared that Thomas was still at the house and he left. He came back about an hour later and talked with a 56-year-old man and expressed his concern over what happened earlier.
Both men decided to check on Oliver, and they found the front door was unlocked, the affidavit said.
When they walked inside, they heard a wheezing sound, and they found Oliver in a bedroom with a gunshot wound to his head. One of the men called 911, and Oliver was taken to Florida Advent Hospital, where he died.
Deputies could not find Thomas during the initial investigation, the affidavit said.
The following day, when deputies were notifying Oliver’s sister of his death, she asked unprompted if Thomas was involved in the investigation. Thomas has known the family for many years, his sister said, and Oliver and Thomas have a child together.
Deputies found Thomas on Monday. She admitted she knew the gun was loaded when she aimed the gun at Oliver’s head and pulled the trigger. Thomas told deputies that she called an ambulance and left the house afterward, the affidavit said. She left the gun sitting on the bed, she said.
Thomas is also facing a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the affidavit.
According to Hillsborough court records, Thomas was arrested in October on charges of carrying a concealed firearm and for improperly exhibiting the gun. According to an arrest affidavit, Thomas had a gun visibly by her side while at Citrus Park Mall and at the Ross Dress For Less, 12775 Citrus Plaza Dr. in Tampa.
A few days after the October incident, a petition granting a risk protection order was placed on Thomas. Sometimes called a “red-flag order,” they allow a judge to order a person’s weapons to be seized.
Thomas was being held at the Hillsborough County jail without bail on Saturday, according to records.