Motorcycle Club's Initiation Prank Turned Deadly, Deputies Say

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A 44-year-old Land O’ Lakes man is behind bars, charged with manslaughter, after Pasco County deputies say he shot and killed another in a motorcycle club initiation stunt gone horribly awry.

The incident occurred Sunday evening outside the Rock Harley Saloon, 2624 Land O’ Lakes Blvd. Deputies received a call around 9:14 p.m. advising them of a “man down” in the parking lot.

When they arrived, they found Billy Lee McDaniel, 44, with a gunshot wound to the head, sheriff’s office spokesman Eddie Daniels Jr. wrote in an email to media. McDaniel was taken by helicopter to Regional Medical Center Bayonet Point where he died Monday morning.

It seems members of the Southern Sons Motorcycle Club were in the bar’s back parking lot drinking while McDaniel, a prospect, stood holding a plastic garbage can over his head, Daniels said. Club members were throwing bottles and cups inside the can when one came up with the idea to shoot it from the man’s head.

The bullet, however, missed the trash can and struck McDaniel’s head instead.

Jeffrey Camarda was arrested Monday evening near the intersection of State Road 54 and U.S. 41, Daniels said. Camarda was behind held in the Land O’ Lakes Jail in lieu of $250,000 bond Tuesday.

Photo courtesy of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office