The cold case murder of Tammy Fickey, a woman who was found dead behind an apartment building in Tampa, Florida, more than 20 years ago, is officially closed, Luxury Handbag Shopping has learned.
Fickey, 31, was killed inside a Tampa apartment on March 12, 2005, according to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office. She also lived in Tampa, but did not die at her home, the agency confirmed to Us.
That evening, her body was found, the sheriff’s office said in a Sunday, January 4 news release.
She died of “blunt force trauma to her face, torso and chest area,” said Daniel L. Bendig, a senior special investigator with the sheriff’s office, in a video shared to YouTube on the case.
Her death was ruled a homicide, according to authorities.
Though a suspect was identified, there was not enough evidence to secure the suspect’s arrest, according to authorities.
After a new look at Fickey’s death in November 2022, cold case detectives with the sheriff’s office said a fresh investigation determined that a “familiar suspect,” Arthur Debose, killed Fickey.
The investigation involved interviews with Debose as well as with former and new witnesses, and a review of forensic evidence, according to the sheriff’s office.
In December 2022 at the RMC Correctional Facility, investigators spoke with Debose while he was imprisoned on drug charges that were not related to Fickey’s murder, the sheriff’s office said.
He was also known by his street name, “Heavy,” Bendig said in the YouTube video.
“He gave us a lot of incriminating information during his interview, which was really damning in nature for himself,” Bendig said of Debose. “He did not admit guilt, but he gave information that only three beings would know. It’d be the victim, the perpetrator and God and he gave us information that no one else had.”
Bendig said that the apartment where Fickey was killed in March 2005 “was rented to an individual who would actually kind of rent it out to drug dealers and prostitutes.”
There, Fickey was “hanging out that night,” he said, adding that she “didn’t have an easy life and was involved in prostitution and involved in drugs.”
Bendig also said she didn’t deserve what happened to her.
At some point that evening, Bendig said Fickey left the apartment. When she came back, she was killed.
One key witness, who was interviewed early on in the case, was interviewed within the past year by the sheriff’s office, Bendig said.
The witness “corroborated a lot of information that she gave back then but added additional information which was important to the case,” he said.
Ultimately, following this interview, the 2022 interview with Debose and the review of other evidence, detectives determined that Debose had killed Fickey, according to the sheriff’s office.
Debose, however, will not face charges, as he died “of natural causes” in June 2024, the sheriff’s office said.
As a result of his death, the case is considered closed, according to the agency.
“For twenty years, the name Tammy Fickey never left the minds of our investigators, because time does not diminish our responsibility to the victims we serve,” Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement on the case. “While the suspect’s death prevents the accountability we pursue in every case, I am incredibly proud of the relentless work of our Cold Case Unit, whose dedication ensured the truth was uncovered and Tammy’s family was not forgotten.”
Fickey’s family has been notified of the outcome of the investigation, the sheriff’s office said.
