Crime & Safety

Arrest Made In Death Of Tampa Bay Muralist Matt Callahan

Police say they've made an arrest in the death of well-known muralist Matt Callahan.

TAMPA, FL -- More than five months after the beating death of well-known Tampa Bay muralist Matt Callahan, police are bringing manslaughter charges against the man they say is responsible for his death.

Keith Mauga, 34, of Tampa, is being charged with manslaughter in the April 11 death of Callahan outside the Warehouse Liquor Store and Bar, 4023 W. Gandy Blvd., Tampa (see related story).

Mauga is already serving five years for aggravated battery in an attack on a St. Petersburg man. He was will be arrested in prison on the manslaughter charge.

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Callahan was found on Gandy Boulevard suffering from an injury to the back of his head. He died at Tampa General Hospital two days later.

Police said the two men knew one another and said the argument that led to Callahan's death was over a pool game.

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Surveillance cameras in the area show Mauga walking away as Callahan laid in the street.

Matt Callahan, 40, of South Tampa was the owner of Man Made Murals in St. Petersburg. A graduate of the Atlanta College of Art, Callahan's works can be seen on the sides of buildings and on interior restaurant walls throughout the Tampa Bay area.

A volunteer for the Shine St. Petersburg Mural Festival since it began in 2015, Callahan was among the muralists who helped launch St. Petersburg's urban mural movement in 2010. The collection of murals throughout downtown St. Petersburg has become a point of pride for the city as well as a tourist attraction.

Callahan left behind larger-than-life artwork that graces some of Tampa Bay's moist popular restaurants including Rick's on the River in Tampa, Cigar City Brewing in Tampa and Bella's Italian Cafe in Tampa.

One of his favorite murals is the one he painted for the Red Star Rock Bar in Seminole Heights featuring a giant LP with the faces of rock icons Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Mike Jagger, Alice Cooper and Robert Plant.

Kent Bailey, owner of Coppertail Brewing Co. of Tampa, called Callahan "the closest thing to a mural god on this earth."

Images via Man Made Murals

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