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.

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.

A Tampa jury found Gerald Declan Radford not guilty in the deadly shooting at a dog park after just two hours of deliberations. The verdict comes nearly one year after the murder.