Arrest Made In Fatal Dog Park Shooting: Hillsborough County Sheriff

TAMPA, FL — A Tampa man was charged with murder in connection with a deadly shooting at a dog park last month, according to a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office news release.

Authorities have elevated the charge to a hate crime because of previous altercations the suspect had with the victim, who was gay.

Deputies responded to the West Dog Park in the Egypt Lake-Leto area for reports of a shooting on Feb. 2, just before 8 a.m.

At the scene, they found John Walter Lay, 52, who had been shot. Though they performed life-saving measures on him, Lay was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Deputies spoke with Gerald Declan Radford, 65, while responding to the dog park. Radford called 911 after the shooting, claiming he acted in self-defense, the sheriff’s office said.

At the time, deputies didn’t have enough evidence to indicate that Radford wasn’t acting in self-defense.

They investigated the incident for weeks, searching for videos connected to it, speaking with those familiar with the men involved and analyzing evidence.

HCSO presented the case and what they learned during their investigation to the state attorney’s office, which approved charging Radford with second-degree murder with a hate crime enhancement. He was arrested Friday afternoon.

Initially, Radford and Lay were friends. That changed after Lay learned that Radford was gay and the two had an altercation, Fox 13 reported.

"This is absolutely senseless," State Attorney Suzy Lopez said. "He deserved to be able to go and enjoy that dog park in peace, just like every citizen of Hillsborough County deserves that. We're absolutely heartbroken, and we're even more heartbroken because of the fact that this crime appears to have really resulted because of the hatred that this defendant had for this victim and very specifically because of the fact that the victim was gay."

Sheriff Chad Chronister added, "After analyzing the evidence, it was clear that this man acted from hatred within his heart. A hatred that will not be tolerated within our strong and diverse community.”