[A Florida man accused of murdering a gay man at a Tampa dog park is asking a judge to dismiss the charges, claiming he acted in self-defense. Gerald Radford testified that he feared for his life when he shot John “Walt” Lay on February 2, saying Lay repeatedly hit him in the face before the shooting. Radford’s defense attorneys cited Florida’s stand-your-ground law, which says people have no duty to retreat before using deadly force when they believe they are defending themselves against a violent crime.
Prosecutors dispute Radford’s story, presenting evidence that Radford had harassed Lay for months before the shooting, repeatedly using homophobic slurs. They also played recorded jail phone calls where Radford used a homophobic slur to describe Lay after his arrest. Several witnesses testified that Radford had a history of harassing Lay, including a friend of Lay who described Lay as “very mild-mannered and very dismissive of any pressure against him.”
Lay had shared a video claiming Radford had threatened him at the dog park the day before the shooting, in which Radford allegedly told him, “You’re going to die.” Radford acknowledged using slurs against Lay, but claimed he treated him differently because of the way Lay treated him, not because of his sexual orientation.
Defense attorneys pointed to a text message Lay sent after the video as proof he planned to attack Radford, in which Lay wrote that he would “try to tackle” Radford if he blocked his path again. They also argued that Radford acted in self-defense, claiming Lay had “completely” overpowered him and that he would have suffered great bodily harm or death if he had not drawn his firearm.
However, prosecutors argued that the trajectory of the bullet through Lay’s body makes it unlikely that Lay was on top of Radford when Lay was shot, as Radford claims. The judge, Samantha Ward, said she will rule on the stand-your-ground motion next week.
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