TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida man charged with a hate crime for killing a gay man says he acted in self-defense.
Gerald Radford, a 66-year-old man from Tampa, is asking the court to drop the charges against him for the shooting of 52-year-old John “Walt” Lay at a Tampa dog park on February 2. Radford claims he feared for his life during the incident.
Speaking in court on Friday, Radford said Lay attacked him at the dog park, punching him repeatedly in the face. “I don’t know if I told him to stop or not, but he wasn’t stopping,” Radford told Hillsborough Circuit Judge Samantha Ward.
Radford is facing a second-degree murder charge, and prosecutors are also seeking additional penalties, arguing that the killing was motivated by hate.
Radford’s lawyers are using Florida’s stand-your-ground law as a defense. The law allows someone to use deadly force if they believe they are protecting themselves from a violent crime, without the obligation to retreat.
However, prosecutors strongly disagree with Radford’s version of events. Witnesses said Radford had been harassing Lay for months before the shooting, often using homophobic slurs. Prosecutors even played recorded jail phone calls where Radford used a slur to describe Lay after his arrest.
One witness, Paul Gumpert, a close friend of Lay, described Lay as a calm and gentle person. “He was very mild-mannered and dismissive of conflict,” Gumpert testified.
Prosecutors also presented a video Lay recorded the day before he died. In the video, Lay claimed Radford had threatened him at the dog park, saying, “You’re going to die.”
Radford admitted in court that he had used slurs against Lay in the past, but he insisted it wasn’t because of Lay’s sexual orientation. Instead, he claimed it was because of how Lay treated him.
As part of their defense, Radford’s attorneys pointed to a text message Lay sent after making the video. In the message, Lay said he would “try to tackle” Radford if Radford blocked his path again. Lay also mentioned, “this weekend should be drama,” which the defense argued showed Lay’s intention to confront Radford.
Radford, becoming emotional during his testimony, said Lay had completely overpowered him during their altercation. When asked by his lawyer, Matthew Futch, if he believed he would have been seriously injured or killed without using his gun, Radford cried and said, “Yes.”
But prosecutors argued that Radford’s account doesn’t add up. They pointed to the autopsy report, which showed that the bullet’s trajectory made it unlikely that Lay was on top of Radford when he was shot. Chief Medical Examiner Kelly Devers testified that it would be “hard” for the bullet to have traveled the way it did if Lay had been kneeling or lying on Radford, as Radford claimed.
Assistant State Attorney Justin Diaz said the inconsistencies in Radford’s story, combined with the evidence of past harassment, point to this being a hate crime. “It’s a hate crime,” Diaz told the court.
Judge Samantha Ward is expected to decide next week whether Radford’s stand-your-ground defense will allow the charges to be dropped.
