{"id":85994,"date":"2025-12-16T23:30:57","date_gmt":"2025-12-16T23:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/85994\/"},"modified":"2025-12-16T23:30:57","modified_gmt":"2025-12-16T23:30:57","slug":"sister-seeks-justice-in-ybor-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/85994\/","title":{"rendered":"Sister seeks justice in Ybor murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Last week, Tampa Police arrested 23-year-old Miguel Lopez<\/a> for the shooting outside Flexx Sports Bar and Ultra Lounge on Sept. 13.<\/p>\n

The shooting left Gabriel Thompkins dead and a bystander injured. On Tuesday, Lopez will face a judge for a bond hearing.<\/a><\/p>\n

The grief remains heavy for the Thompkins family, who spoke exclusively to Good Morning Tampa Bay anchor Andrew Kinsey. They opened up about the night that turned into a nightmare, the void now left behind, and their mission to get justice and push for change.<\/p>\n

WATCH: ‘He’s not going to be swept under the rug’: Sister seeks justice after Ybor murder<\/p>\n

‘He’s not going to be swept under the rug’: Sister seeks justice after Ybor murder<\/p>\n

Memories, frozen in time. One picture after another, telling the story of a life, full of purpose and potential.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s always been the happy-go-lucky person in everybody’s life,\u201d said Alexis Thompkin, Gabriel\u2019s sister.<\/p>\n

These memories are now cherished in a special way.<\/p>\n

\"'He's<\/p>\n

WFTS<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do you go from being with someone every day to no longer at all, not a text, not a call. All I have is the memories,\u201d said Alexis.<\/p>\n

For Alexis, looking through photos is now the only way to see her brother\u2019s infectious smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is my big brother, my best friend, and that’s been shattered,\u201d explained Alexis.<\/p>\n

Shattered in an instant by a bullet in Ybor City on Sept. 13, shortly after 2 a.m. Tampa Police say 30-year-old Gabriel Thompkins was shot outside Flexx Sports Bar and Ultra Lounge by Miguel Lopez, who had been removed earlier in the night for disorderly conduct.<\/p>\n

\"'He's<\/p>\n

WFTS<\/p>\n

\u201cI got the call, and I actually beat the ambulance to the hospital. I beat my brother there, so I was the last person to see him on the stretcher and to not have any answers, to not have anything to know what happened, no indicator, no answers. Is really like they don’t value our lives,\u201d explained Alexis.<\/p>\n

For nearly three months, the family waited for police to make an arrest after initially detaining Lopez.<\/p>\n

Alexis said even with Lopez behind bars, many questions still remain, like why her brother was targeted and why it took so long for an arrest, despite witnesses and officers nearby.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can’t question God, because I know he completed his mission, but I do know my brother deserves justice, because that person doesn’t get the right to just take his life away,\u201d said Alexis.<\/p>\n

Putting an end to violence across the city, like the shooting that took Gabriel\u2019s life, is the mission of community activist Lashawn Tims. For more than 10 years, she\u2019s been spreading the message of peace with her organization, 813 Stop The Violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got to educate our people on gun violence here in our city,\u201d said Tims.<\/p>\n

Tims said the community must stand together and take action to help prevent other families from enduring the same pain.<\/p>\n

\"'He's<\/p>\n

WFTS<\/p>\n

\u201cNo family should be able to rest when you need justice, because there’s no justice, there’s no peace,\u201d explained Tims.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want action because he’s not just going to be another just swept under the rug,\u201d said Alexis.<\/p>\n

\"'He's<\/p>\n

WFTS<\/p>\n

Andrew Kinsey reached out to Tampa Police to get answers for this family, but he was told the case is still under investigation.<\/p>\n

In addition to the suspect, Alexis said she wants action taken against the bar for failing to keep her brother safe.<\/p>\n

A community meeting with city leaders scheduled for Tuesday to address safety in Ybor has been postponed. When it is rescheduled, Tampa Bay 28 will let you know.<\/p>\n

Share Your Story with Andrew

Tampa Bay is known for our diverse military community, and Tampa Bay 28 Anchor Andrew Kinsey takes pride in sharing their stories. He also enjoys sharing a cup of joy in the mornings, so reach out to Andrew with the things that make you proud to call Tampa Bay home.
.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

After confusion, state issues guidance on what license plate frames are legal in Florida<\/p>\n

Ana Smith decided to take off the decorative plate frame she\u2019d had for more than 15 years once she realized it violated new rules. Tampa Bay 28\u2019s Chad Mills has more about the state-issued clarifications to law enforcement about license plate frame enforcement.<\/p>\n

After confusion, state issues guidance on what license plate frames are legal in Florida<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. \u2014 Last week, Tampa Police arrested 23-year-old Miguel Lopez for the shooting outside Flexx Sports Bar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85995,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[692,2873,1089,3985,1933,215,135,5910,137,136,6410,208,28039],"class_list":["post-85994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-arrest","tag-bar","tag-family","tag-justice","tag-murder","tag-shooting","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-bay-28","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news","tag-violence","tag-wfts","tag-ybor"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}