Plant City Man Charged With Manslaughter After Allegedly Shooting Son On Christmas Day

Though Christmas is a trying time for many in the Tampa area, authorities say the holiday ended in murder for one family after an 82-year-old Plant City man allegedly shot and killed his 50-year-old son.

At around half past nine o’clock that evening the son initiated an argument with his father and a third party. According to the third-party witness, the argument escalated when the father disappeared upstairs and returned with a firearm while the son beat a hasty retreat. A single report from the gun rang out, he said, and the sight of the son lying prone and wounded greeted the witness upon his investigation in the adjacent room.

A call to 9-1-1 summoned Hillsborough County deputies to the home in which both men lived, declaring that the father shot the son in the upper body at the culmination of an argument. EMS responded to the call as well, transporting the son to South Florida Baptist Hospital. Despite the staff’s best efforts on his behalf, the wound proved mortal, snuffing out the son’s life.

Meanwhile, deputies tracked down the father, whom they say admitted to shooting his son in anger. He was arrested by deputies just before dawn the next day and booked into the Hillsborough County Jail on a single count of manslaughter with a weapon. He remains incarcerated pending a bond of $350,000.

According to local media, the latest incident was not the first time the duo tangled dangerously. In early 2000 the father allegedly shot his son, this time in the shoulder, and this time not with fatal results. The son was charged with battery, domestic violence, and burglary of a vehicle, but authorities subsequently dropped said charges. The father was not charged, as officials deemed he had acted in self defense.

The Law Offices of Bjorn Brunvand have been representing people charged with capital murder, felony drug charges, drunk driving, government fraud, and white-collar crimes for over a quarter century. Contact our office today to discuss your Tampa Bay-area state or federal charges.