A Tampa man accused of kidnapping and raping a DoorDash driver at gunpoint, then opening fire on the family members who raced to save her, went on trial Tuesday in Hillsborough County. Joseph Killins, now facing armed kidnapping, armed sexual battery, robbery with a firearm, and aggravated battery with a weapon charges, has been held without bond since his arrest in April 2023.
The case, as reported by FOX 13 Tampa Bay, centers on an attack that began around 11 p.m. on April 18, 2023, at a Residence Inn on West Boy Scout Boulevard, where the driver, a woman in her early 20s, was dropping off an order when she was forced back into her own vehicle at gunpoint, according to 10 Tampa Bay. Killins was arrested three days later, on April 21, 2023, and taken into custody at a Tampa hotel, per CBS News.
What likely saved the driver's life was the phone in her ear. She was on an active call with her girlfriend, using AirPods, throughout the attack, allowing her girlfriend to realize something was wrong and alert family members, according to RadarOnline. Family members tracked her phone to the Belara Lakes Apartments, more than six miles from the hotel where she was first taken.
Rescue Attempt Turns Into Shootout
When relatives arrived at the apartment complex to pull the driver to safety, the suspect opened fire on them, striking a woman in her 20s who was related to the victim's girlfriend, the same CBS News report states. Both the delivery driver and the wounded rescuer were treated for injuries that were described as non-life-threatening.
Police also linked Killins to a second, separate crime at the same apartment complex the day before. On April 19, 2023, a woman in her 40s was thrown to the ground and robbed there, according to the same CBS News account; detectives said physical descriptions and evidence from both incidents helped identify him as a suspect in each.
Forensic work moved unusually fast. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement's Tampa Bay Regional Operations Center Crime Lab expedited testing and generated a CODIS match tying Killins to the case in under 72 hours, with analysts working through the weekend following his arrest to complete the DNA database comparison.
Judge Has Repeatedly Denied Release
Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Christine Marlewski ordered Killins held without bond back in April 2023 and later denied his motion for pre-trial release in January 2024, following reports that he had not cooperated while in detention. Prosecutors argued at the time that he posed a severe ongoing threat to public safety.
DoorDash issued a statement after the attack calling it heinous, saying the company was in contact with law enforcement and offering support resources to the victim. The case became part of a broader reckoning that spring over safety for gig delivery drivers across Florida, a wave of violence that pushed platforms toward tools like DoorDash's SafeDash emergency button and its AI-powered SafeChat+ feature, according to Entrepreneur. Industry advocates at the time noted that drivers submit extensive personal verification to work on these platforms while receiving comparatively little security information about the customers or locations they are sent to.
Case Echoes in Recent Civil Settlement
The trial also arrives amid growing legal scrutiny of property owners in similar attacks. In April, attorneys announced a $2.575 million civil settlement against a property owner in a separate negligent security lawsuit involving a 20-year-old delivery driver who was kidnapped at gunpoint and sexually assaulted elsewhere in Florida, according to the Haggard Law Firm. Florida premises liability law can hold property owners accountable for foreseeable violent crimes when security measures fail, the firm notes.
Killins' trial is now underway in Hillsborough County. The specific outcome of jury deliberations was not detailed in available reporting, and further proceedings are expected to unfold in the days ahead.
