Sep 16, 2008 9:23 am US/Eastern
Testimony Resumes In Homeless Beating Trial
Brian Hooks and Thomas Daugherty Are Charged With 1st Degree Murder & Attempted Murder
William "Billy" Ammons Cut Deal With Prosecutors
Ammons Plead Guilty To 3rd Degree Murder & Agg. Battery In Exchange For 10-To-20 Year Prison Sentence
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ―
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FAU surveillance camera videotaped the beatings on Jan. 12th 2006 in Fort Lauderdale.
CBS
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William "Billy" Ammons
CBS4 News
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Joey Griffith testifies at homeless beating trial in Fort Lauderdale.
CBS
A Broward man who said he watched in horror as his former friends beating several homeless men with a baseball bat, killing one, is expected to be back on the stand Tuesday.
On the stand Monday, William "Billy" Ammons, 21, described how he jumped in when Brian Hooks started beating Norris Gaynor with a baseball bat when they attacked him on a park bench in Esplanade Park.
"As soon as he raised the bat up and I knew he was going to hit him," Ammons testified. "I started firing my paint ball gun. I probably fired it 5 to 10 times cause it fires real fast. So I fired that and while I was firing, he (Hooks) brought the bat down and hit the guy in the head."
Gaynor died of the injuries he sustained in the attack.
Ammons testified they giggled after Hooks and a second person, Thomas Daugherty, beat Jaques Pierre. He also said that they were drunk and stoned as they prowled around Fort Lauderdale looking for "bums" to beat up.
"We were pretty much laughing and giggling," said Ammons.
That's when he says they found Gaynor sleeping on a park bench. Ammons says he grabbed his paintball gun – because he wanted to take part too.
"I felt like I wasn't doing anything and did not want to be perceived as a wuss for not participating," said Ammons.
In May, Ammons accepted a plead deal to third-degree murder and aggravated battery in exchange for a 10 to 20-year prison sentence. He also agreed to testify against Hooks and Daugherty
Last week the jury heard from one of the state's key witnesses, Joey Griffith, who testified about the night his former friends, Daugherty and Hooks, went on their violent rampage. Griffith held up a baseball bat in court, in order to recreate the beating that occurred allegedly at the hands of his friends.
Daugherty and Hooks are charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder for their roles in the January 12, 2006 beatings.
Griffith was with Daugherty and Hooks during two of the attacks but was not charged. Prosecutors say he did not take part in the beatings and went home scared after the fatal attack on Gaynor.
Griffith told the jury he and his friends were driving around, smoking marijuana, when one of them suggested they "go beat up some bums."
The two men who survived the beatings have already testified. The first attack was on 60-year old Jacques Pierre, who was beaten outside Florida Atlantic University in downtown Fort Lauderdale. It was the attack seen around the world because it was captured on surveillance video. That video, already shown to the jury, is a key piece of evidence.
The second attack took place in Esplanade Park.
The final attack was on 52-year old Raymond Perez outside the Church-by-the Sea.
Prosecutors say Daugherty and Hooks were high on Xanax, vodka and marijuana when they went out to beat up homeless people but their lawyer says they had no desire to kill or cause serious harm.
Closing arguments in the trial could come as early as Wednesday. Daugherty and Hooks could face life in prison if convicted.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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