A man serving a sentence of life in prison in the 2015 shooting of a deputy in the Florida Keys is now facing charges in a man’s murder in Florida City just days earlier. NBC6’s Jamie Guirola reports
A man serving a sentence of life in prison in the 2015 shooting of a deputy in the Florida Keys is now facing charges in a man's murder in Florida City just days earlier.
Timothy Thomas, 34, is facing a first-degree murder charge in the Oct. 19, 2015 killing of 32-year-old Renaldo Clayton, jail and court records show.
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WATCH HEREClayton, who family members said worked for the City of Florida City in the Parks and Recreation department, was found shot to death inside his home in the 1600 block of Northwest 1st Avenue by his girlfriend and child.
Just hours earlier, he was in the front yard playing t-ball with his 3-year-old son.
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“He’s a good… a very good dad. Always paid a lot of attention to his son. Made sure his son did a lot of things outside," Clayton's nephew told NBC6 at the time.
Thomas appeared in bond court over the weekend to face the charge, where a judge said bullet casings from the shooting of Clayton matched those from the deputy's shooting.
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That shooting happened on Oct. 24, 2015, just days after the shooting of Clayton.
Authorities said Thomas shot Deputy Joshua Gordon as Gordon was trying to apprehend him in connection with a robbery.
Gordon was hit in the chest but was wearing a bulletproof vest, which saved his life and left him uninjured.
Thomas was arrested the next day when he was found hiding in a Key West house with two gunshot wounds.
New technology and digital evidence helped detectives solve the case. Investigators discovered internet searches tied to Clayton’s murder on a phone linked to Thomas. That led to a closer look at ballistics – the same gun used to shoot the deputy also killed Clayton.
Thomas was found guilty of the shooting and sentenced in 2018 to life in prison.
