Scary video of gay man before gunned down at Tampa Bay dog ​​park … as murder suspect claims bombshell messages change everything

A gay man who was gunned down in a dog park recorded a chilling video the day before he died, with his text messages now a key part of the suspect’s murder trail.

Gerald Declan Radford, who was 65 at the time of the shooting, was charged with second-degree murder after John Walter Lay, 54, was shot and killed in February earlier this year.

Friends of both men said Radford, who claims he acted in self-defense, allegedly harassed Lay for months, including calling him homophobic slurs and threatening him.

The men reportedly became friends after meeting at the dog park, but their friendship soured after they got into a confrontation over Lay being gay, according to WTVT.

Now, a video Lay shot on February 1, the day before he was shot, shows him documenting his reaction to an encounter with Radford.

Lay told the camera he was recording for a “video diary,” which police recommended he create.

“I’m trying not to call the police,” he added before recalling the events of the morning, when the two met alone in the park.

“He came up to me and yelled at me, ‘You’re going to die, you’re going to die,’ and I asked him to leave alone,” Lay said in the video, which was sent to Kim’s friend Wolfley.

Wolfley told People: “It seems to me that it was premeditated. I’m amazed when I saw the video.

That same day, Lay sent a series of text messages that defense attorney Matthew J Futch claims is evidence that Lay was actually the one who planned the attack on Radford.

“He really doesn’t intimidate me,” Lay wrote to Sue Jones, a friend who had spoken frequently with Lay about the situation between the two men.

“I figured if he gets in my way again, I’ll try to tackle him. He really is older than he looks. He is thin and emaciated. I will keep you posted. This weekend should be a drama.

About 13 minutes later, Lay sent another to Jones that read, “He’s eaten up by bursitis! I think he wants me to beat him. In some crazy weird sex… I don’t know. Lol.’

Futch noted that the messages were sent after the video was recorded of Lay recalling their meeting earlier that day.

He then claimed the text messages showed that hours after Lay claimed Radford had threatened his life, he was “meticulously planning his attack and enjoying the drama it would cause, without any mention to Sue Jones of the alleged threats that were made to him that morning. .’

The text messages, according to Futch, lead to the conclusion that Lay was “looking to attack Mr. Radford.”

Hours after the shooting, Radford texted a mutual friend of both men and wrote: “I’m so sorry to tell you, Walt attacked me and I had to defend myself. I never thought he would follow me. I’m really sorry. I really had no choice, he was too crazy.

The message was accompanied by a photo of Radford with what appeared to be bruising under one eye, cuts on his nose and an abrasion above one of his eyebrows.

Futch told him Tampa Bay Times the texts in Lay “seismically change the tenor of this case” and should merit tossing the case.

He described the situation as a “miscarriage of justice” and added: “An innocent man has been in jail since early March, the state now has direct evidence that 18 hours before the shooting, the alleged victim was presenting his plan to . a ‘weak and thin’ man who the alleged victim, in her own words, was not really intimidated by’.

Erin Maloney, a spokeswoman for the State’s Attorney’s Office, said in an email that the motion has been reviewed and “(we) maintain our position that the shooting was not an act of self-defense.”

Maloney added, “It also does not change our position that the defendant should be held in custody before trial.”

The complications of the case are tangled with Florida’s self-defense law, which says a person who is doing nothing illegal and is attacked in a place where they have a right to be can use deadly force if they reasonably have. I think it is necessary.

Hillsborough State’s Attorney Suzy Lopez said in a statement in March that Radford acted “out of hatred in his heart,” reported People.

Lopez added, “We should all be able to enjoy a day at the dog park without the fear of gunfire. This victim also deserved to live free from fear and discrimination based on her sexual orientation. The evidence shows that the defendant’s actions were motivated by hate, and we will be held accountable. My heart goes out to the victim’s family and a large group of friends as we fight for justice together.

Radford’s first bail hearing was in March, where prosecutors argued that the bullet trajectory revealed by Lay’s autopsy was “inconsistent with Radford’s account of the shooting,” the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Radford also claimed Lay attacked him with a metal bottle in the 911 call. Two metal travel cups were found at the scene, one Radford claimed was his and he was unsure who owned the second.

Lay’s body was found with multiple scrapes on her knees, according to the autopsy, and Radford was found at the scene with cuts and bruises to her face.

A friend of Lay’s, Samantha Hitchcock, claimed that she heard Radford use homophobic slurs at both her and Lay on numerous occasions, but that Lay never initiated fights with Radford.

She told People: “Walt never instigated anything. He always left. He would say ‘leave me alone’ – he was just that kind of person.

A Hillsborough Sheriff’s Office homicide detective testified that a witness heard Radford say, “I just want to kill him,” after walking away from an argument with Lay days before the shooting.

Radford faces life in prison if convicted as charged. If a jury finds him guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter with a weapon, that usually carries up to 30 years, but he could also face a life sentence with the addition of a hate crime charge .