A Hillsborough County jury found Gerald Radford not guilty of the murder of John ” Walt” Lay on Thursday. Radford shot and killed Lay as the two men were engaged in a physical fight in a Hillsborough County dog park in 2024.

“He said, ‘I’m going to hit that guy, I’m going to break his jaw,‘” Genovese recalled during the second day of testimony in Radford’s murder trial. He said Radford told him that when he saw Lay, he liked to walk up on him quickly “to try and scare him.”

We’re listening to the reaction following a not-guilty verdict in the Tampa dog park shooting. Witnesses who testified in the trial of Gerald Declan Radford are speaking out.

The suspect accused of a hate crime in the fatal shooting of a gay man at a Tampa dog park was found not guilty of murder, reports said.

After deliberating for about 2½ hours, a six-person jury found that Gerald Declan Radford did not commit second-degree murder when he shot John Walter Lay at the West Dog Park last year. Prosecutors had also sought a hate crime enhancement, arguing Radford was motivated to shoot Lay because he was gay.

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A Hillsborough County jury found Gerald Declan Radford not guilty for the shooting of a gay man at a Tampa dog park last year.

Throughout the trial, attorneys argued that Gerald Declan Radford acted in self-defense when he shot and killed John 'Walter' Lay.

Testimony resumed in a Tampa courtroom on Wednesday in the trial of Gerald Declan Radford, who's accused of targeting and killing another man at a dog park because he was gay.