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Two
suspects
have
been
charged
with
first-degree
murder
in
the
brutal
killing
of
a
gay
man
in
Bartow,
Fla.
Police
have
classified
the
killing
of
Ryan
Keith
Skipper,
25,
as
a
hate
crime,
according
to
a
statement
from
the
Polk
County
Sheriff’s
Office.
On
Friday,
March
16,
detectives
arrested
William
David
Brown,
Jr.,
20,
and
Joseph
Bearden,
21,
in
connection
with
Skipper’s
murder.
Skipper’s
body
was
found
on
Morgan
Road
in
Wahneta,
Fla.,
on
Wednesday,
March
14.
He
had
been
stabbed
about
20
times,
police
said.
According
to
police,
Skipper
picked
up
Bearden
as
the
suspect
was
walking
along
a
road
around
midnight
March
14.
The
two
drove
back
to
Skipper’s
house
to
smoke
marijuana
and
pick
up
a
personal
computer,
the
Polk
County
Sheriff’s
Office
press
statement
says.
The
two
then
left
to
meet
up
with
William
Brown
at
110
1st
St.
in
Wahneta.
The
suspects
decided
to
rob
Skipper
and
left
Brown’s
residence
with
the
victim,
police
said.
About
15
minutes
later,
the
suspects
returned
to
the
1st
Street
residence
with
Skipper’s
car
but
without
the
victim,
the
police
statement
says.
The
murder
occurred
in
the
early
morning
hours
of
March
14.
Both
defendants
have
also
been
charged
with
armed
robbery
for
stealing
Skipper’s
car
and
a
computer
that
was
in
his
residence.
Detectives
have
spoken
to
a
number
of
witnesses
and
the
case
is
“an
ongoing
investigation,”
police
said.
According
to
police,
one
witness
stated
that
Brown
had
told
him
that
Skipper
“was
messing
with
me”
and
that
he
killed
him
because
he
was
a
homosexual.
Brown’s
criminal
record
includes
two
arrests
for
cyber-stalking
and
harassment
in
January
and
February
of
this
year.
He
was
also
arrested
for
possession
of
drug
paraphernalia
in
October
2006.
Stratton
Pollitzer,
deputy
director
of
the
gay
rights
group
Equality
Florida,
criticized
the
scant
media
attention
that
the
case
has
received.
He
also
faulted
public
officials
for
not
publicly
condemning
anti-gay
violence
in
the
wake
of
the
killing.
“This
story
has
gotten
very
little
statewide
attention
and
no
national
attention
for
the
ugliest
kind
of
crime
imaginable,”
Pollitzer
noted.
“And
we
haven’t
seen
any
public
officials
speaking
out
to
condemn
the
bigotry
and
bias
that
led
to
this
hate
crime.”
Pollitzer
noted
that
the
overkill
nature
of
the
crime
—
Skipper
was
stabbed
20
times
—
has
been
identified
by
experts
as
one
of
the
signs
of
a
hate
crime.
Pollitzer
pointed
out
that
when
members
of
other
minority
groups
are
targeted
for
hate
crimes,
public
officials
frequent-
ly
speak
out.
For
example,
he
noted
that
public
officials
spoke
out
against
hate
crimes
directed
at
Muslim
Americans
in
the
wake
of
the
Sept.
11
attacks.
“We
need
to
hear
from
the
governor
and
the
attorney
general,”
Pollitzer
said.
He
said
the
Equality
Florida
staff
is
currently
working
on
a
statewide
vigil
in
Skipper’s
memory.
Friend
criticizes
Sheriff’s
statement
Stephanie
Strickland,
a
friend
of
Skipper’s
who
has
known
him
since
he
was
15,
said
she
was
upset
about
a
comment
that
Polk
County
Sheriff
Grady
Judd
said
about
the
case.
In
an
article
in
the
Lakeland
Ledger,
Judd
was
quoted
as
saying,
“What
we
do
know
is
that
Ryan
was
looking
for
someone
to
pick
up
that
evening.
And
unfortunately
for
Ryan,
he
picked
up
the
wrong
person.”
“He
was
just
giving
the
killers’
account
of
what
happened,”
Strickland
said.
“When
I
saw
that
on
the
news,
my
jaw
just
dropped.
Ryan
did
not
pick
up
people
off
of
the
street.
He
would
never
pick
up
hitchhikers.”
Strickland
thinks
Skipper
may
have
been
at
least
casually
acquainted
with
Brown,
based
on
what
one
of
Skipper’s
roommates
told
her.
Strickland
said
Skipper
was
driving
home
after
getting
off
work
and
eating
with
friends.
She
said
he
still
had
his
work
clothes
on,
a
shirt
and
tie,
when
he
was
killed.
She
said
Skipper
worked
at
the
Sunglass
Hut
in
Winterhaven
and
was
majoring
in
computer
science
at
Traviss
Technical
Center
in
Lakeland.
“He
was
so
busy
with
school
that
I
hadn’t
seen
him
much
lately,”
Strickland
said.
Strickland
said
Skipper
was
a
“great
guy”
who
taught
her
to
drive
a
stick-shift
car
and
was
godfather
to
her
3-year-old
daughter.
“He
would
help
you
in
any
way
he
could,”
Strickland
said.
Donna
Wood,
public
information
officer
for
the
Polk
County
Sheriff’s
Office,
said
the
two
suspects
“gave
conflicting
stories
about
time
and
events.”
She
said
there
was
no
indication
that
either
suspect
was
gay.
She
said
family
members
and
friends
have
confirmed
that
...
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