HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla — The second-degree murder trial of Gerald Declan Radford got underway at the Hillsborough County courthouse today.
Radford fatally shot John Walt Lay at West Dog Park last February after what witnesses described as a months-long dispute between the two men.
Both prosecutors and the defense laid out a road map for jurors in their opening statements Tuesday, telling two different stories.
Radford’s attorneys say it was a clear case of self-defense, while prosecutors say Radford shot Lay because he was gay.
Radford shot and killed Lay early on the morning of February 2, 2024.
Radford told investigators he shot Lay in self-defense after Lay attacked him with a metal coffee mug.
“Gerald Radford shot and killed John Walter Lay. Mr. Lay was not armed with a knife, a baseball bat or a gun. Anything remotely resembling a deadly weapon. And he shot him. And you’re gonna have to decide whether he did that legally,” said Assistant State Attorney Justin Diaz.
Prosecutors say during the trial, they will produce witnesses who will testify Radford taunted Lay for months because he was gay.
They also plan to introduce as evidence a video Lay sent a friend the day before he died.
“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,” Lay said in the grainy video.
“What the state just told you? is a story. It's their theory of what happened. And so now, using that same evidence, I'm going to tell you our story,” said defense attorney Shanna Bailey Schultz.
Radford’s attorneys say their client was forced to defend himself against a younger, bigger man who instigated the fight at the park.
“If Walt’s life had been threatened, would he have gone back to the dog park at the same time with Declan and he knew Declan would be there and furthermore go in knowing you’re alone in there with him?” Schultz said.
Prosecutors say they also plan to introduce evidence of Radford's own words when he testified at a stand–your–ground hearing in December.
“What really dissolved their friendship,” Diaz said, “Is that a gay man asked him out”
“This is not murder because Mr. Diaz told you it is. This not a hate crime because the state says it is. Make the state work for it. Their burden is so incredibly high,” Schultz said.
Several law enforcement officers testified Tuesday afternoon.
The state is expected to call other regular parkgoers to the stand on Wednesday to testify about Radford's frequent use of anti-gay slurs when referring to Lay.
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