TAMPA, Fla. — Gerald Declan Radford, the suspect charged with murdering a gay man at a Tampa dog park earlier this year, is scheduled to have a stand-your-ground hearing next week.
It comes days after Radford’s attorney filed a motion for his pre-trial release.
Radford, who goes by “Dec”, has been held without bond in the Hillsborough County Jail since his arrest in March.
He fatally shot Walt Lay at West Dog Park in the Leto community on Feb. 2 and was charged with second-degree murder five weeks later.
Witnesses describe the escalating conflict
“There was a bit of an incident between Dec and myself this morning,” Walt said in a video he sent friends before he died.
Witnesses told the I-Team that Walt complained that Dec harassed him because he was gay.
They said Walt was documenting incidents between the two men and sending them to others.
Those fellow park-goers said they often heard Dec shout slurs at Walt, something Dec later admitted to detectives.
“Mr. Radford stated that he did, in fact, on multiple occasions in the past use derogatory language towards the victim’s sexual orientation,” Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Detective Robert Harrop testified during a bond hearing on March 18th.
The State’s Attorney’s Office is planning to seek a hate-crime enhancement if Radford is convicted.
During the original bond hearing, prosecutors played another video Walt made the day before he was shot and sent to a friend.
In it, Walt said Dec threatened him.
“We’re the only two people here, and he comes up to me and screams at me, you’re going to die. You're gonna die,” Walt said in the video.
After the shooting, Radford told deputies Lay attacked him with a coffee mug.
Radford texted a photo after the shooting showing injuries to his face.
He wrote in the message, “Walt attacked me at the park, and I had to defend myself.”
We caught up with Radford near his home before he was arrested, but he didn’t answer our questions.
“The evidence is consistent with what Mr. Radford told law enforcement the entire time,” Radford’s attorney, Matthew Futch, said during a Zoom interview with the I-Team in June.
Attorney says newly discovered evidence exonerates his client
Futch filed a motion last week asking the judge to release Radford based on text messages from Lay, his defense team recently discovered in evidence.
They involve texts to another park-goer, Sue Jones.
Lay sent the messages to her about 18 hours before the shooting.
Futch says in the motion that they corroborate Mr. Radford’s claim of self-defense.
Jones told us Walt contacted her when we interviewed her in February.
“He called me on the phone, and then he texted me and said Sue, I'm really scared. He said Dec is just out of control,” Jones said in an interview a week after the shooting.
Jones read us some of Walt’s texts.
“He's crazy. He doesn’t have anywhere else to go. I'll keep you posted,” a text says the day before he was shot.
Lay also wrote what he planned to do if Dec confronted him.
“I thought, if he blocks my path again, I’ll try to tackle him. He’s really older than he looks. He’s weak and feeble. I’ll keep you informed. This weekend should be drama,” Lay’s message to Jones said.
Futch’s motion said, “The newly discovered messages on Mr. Lay’s phone can only lead to one conclusion... that Mr. Lay was looking to attack Mr. Radford. “
Hearing will determine if case moves forward
A stand-your-ground hearing is set for December 6th.
“It’s gonna be a mini-trial just in front of a judge,” said attorney Jennifer Stroupf, who is not involved in the case.
She says under Florida law if the judge determines Radford shot Lay in self-defense, the murder charge will be dismissed.
Currently, the case is set for trial the week of January 6th.
“Even if stand-your-ground doesn’t work, you still have the right to try self-defense to a jury, and at that point, the state has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that you weren’t defending yourself,” Stroupf said.
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