Mar 31, 2006 11:19 pm US/Eastern
Deadly Homeless Beating Witness Breaks His Silence
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4 News) ―
-
-
Norris Gaynor died after a brutal beating, allegedly committed by teenagers in January.
CBS4 News
The January homeless beating death of Norris Gaynor in Ft. Lauderdale did not go unnoticed after all, at least not by the account of a man that came forward to police 30 hours after the deadly crime occurred.
CBS4's Art Barron has the interview with Anthony Clarke, a Miami man who says he was walking down the park in the early morning hours of January 12th. He had gone out to Ft. Lauderdale that night before he witnessed the beating take place.
However, he did not report the crime right away.
"The guilt made me come back to the scene you know, and wish I could do it all differently if I could do it again," said Clarke.
The prosecution is buying his testimony. He says he came forward when he realized the gravity of the situation by seeing television news reports that Gaynor had died.
"What made me stop is because I had seen him standing there with a baseball bat," he said. "I saw the individual with the afro - that's how I recall it - strike the individual on the bench," said Clarke.
The only teen out of the group with long hair was Thomas Daugherty. Clarke says he was the only teen he saw beat the victim, while the other two accomplices watched.
Clarke later identified Daugherty out of a police line-up. He also said he another suspect, later identified as William Ammons with something else in his hands but not a baseball bat. The other two teens were on either side of Daugherty.
Clarke did have an arrest warrant for driving with a suspended license at the time of the incident, but prosecutors testified on his behalf and got the charges dropped.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
