TAMPA, Fla. — A former professional wrestler whose Facebook page showed a photo of a bloody body part Wednesday evening faces a murder charge in the stabbing death of a woman at a Tampa apartment complex, authorities said.
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By FREIDA FRISARO
Hillsborough County Sheriff's officials said Brian McGhee, 29, will be charged with first-degree murder. He was booked into the Pasco County Jail Thursday morning after being treated at a Tampa hospital for injuries received in a car crash when fleeing from deputies late Wednesday. He went by the wrestling monikers "The Future" Donovan Roddick and DT Porter.
The victim was identified as 25-year-old Bianca McGaughey.
According to Hillsborough County Sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter, deputies were called to an apartment complex around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday. There, they found a woman who had been stabbed multiple times in the neck and torso lying on a sidewalk. She died at the scene.
Detectives said McGhee and McGaughey had dated previously. They broke up a year ago, but continued contact with each other.
McGhee was named as a suspect and his car was spotted. Deputies say McGhee fled from officers and crashed his car near Interstate 75, north of downtown Tampa, in Pasco County. When he didn't respond to commands to place his hands in the air, law enforcement officers let a police dog inside the vehicle. McGhee was taken to a Tampa hospital, where he was being treated Thursday morning for injuries sustained in the crash and the K-9 apprehension.
A photo of what appears to be a bleeding arm or leg was posted at about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday to a Facebook page under McGhee's name. It's unclear who the body part belongs to. The photo had been made McGhee's Facebook profile photo.
According to his Facebook page, McGhee, who previously lived in St. Louis, had been employed by World Wrestling Entertainment from 2010 to 2012.
On a pro wrestling website, McGhee — going by the name DT Porter — is described as being 6 feet, 6 inches tall, 251 pounds, and a victim of childhood bullying.
"Once the oppressed, DT is the one now doing the enforcing," his wrestling bio read. "Determined to take out all of his childhood pain and torment out on the bodies of his opposition, DT lacks mercy, and will deliver great anger and furious vengeance on any who stand in his way."
There have been other domestic violence incidents involving wrestling stars. In 2007, wrestler Chris Benoit killed his wife and son, then hanged himself in his Georgia home. Just this month, a film company announced that a movie about Benoit's life and death is underway.
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FREIDA FRISARO
In a story published Apr. 12, 2024, about an anesthesiologist charged with tampering with bags of intravenous fluids and causing cardiac emergencies, The Associated Press erroneously spelled the first surname of defendant Raynaldo Rivera Ortiz. It is Rivera, not Riviera.