Jul 21, 2006 11:15 am US/Eastern
New Court Date For Teens In Homeless Beatings
Court Date Set For August 25
Thomas Daugherty, Brian Hooks, William Ammons all charged with first-degree murder
FT. LAUDERDALE (CBS4 News) ―
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Beating of a Fort Lauderdale homeless man was captured on surveillance video in January 2006
CBS4 News
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Thomas Daugherty
CBS4 News
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Brian Hooks, in court Feb. 2006
CBS4 News
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Billy Ammons, Denied bond in the murder of homeless man Norris Gaynor
Two teens who stand accused of killing a homeless man and beating two others have new court dates.
Broward Circuit Judge Cynthia Imperato granted hearing continuances for Thomas Daugherty, 17, and Brian Hooks, 18. A third teen, William "Billy" Ammons was granted a continuance Thursday after being denied bond.
Now, all three teens are scheduled to appear in court again on August 25th.
Of the three, only Hooks appeared in the courtroom Friday morning.
He sat handcuffed to his chair, wearing a red maximum security jumpsuit. Hooks was stone-faced and stared straight ahead which was in sharp contract to Ammons' behavior on Thursday.
Ammons appeared frail and sobbed quietly as a prosecutor read aloud the teenager's own words about his role in the attacks.
All three teens are charged with first-degree murder in the January 12 killing of Norris Gaynor, 45, and the beatings of two other homeless men.
Prosecutors say Ammons has admitted to firing at Gaynor with a paint gun and hitting Ramon Perez, with a golf club, as his two friends beat the homeless man with baseball bats.
Ammons' attorney, Sam Halpern said Thursday, that while his client may have played a role in the beatings, he did not kill anyone. "The evidence is pretty much that they were out there, harassing people, he fired off a couple of paint ball rounds, but that was not a fatal blow.
Ammons' mother testified that her son actually protected weaker children from bullies, but the effort was not enough to sway the prosecutor, who characterized the teen as a jackal who preys on the vulnerable.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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