Florida man accused of attacking Black man with axe handle pleads guilty to hate crime

FLORIDA — A second Florida man has pleaded guilty to a federal hate crime for an alleged racially motivated attack on a Black man using an axe handle, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced.

Roy Lashley, 55, pleaded guilty last week to a federal hate crime for attacking a Black man because of his actual and perceived race, the DOJ said in its statement.

According to the plea agreement, on Nov. 17, 2021, Lashley traveled to the Family Dollar in Citrus Springs, Florida, where the victim, a Black man, was shopping inside. Reportedly, Lashley repeatedly used racial slurs inside the store in reference to the victim and then followed the victim into the parking lot.

There, Lashley retrieved an axe handle from the bed of his truck and struck the victim multiple times with it, the DOJ said.

According to the DOJ, Lashley directed racial slurs toward the victim before, during, and after the attack. The victim sustained painful injuries to his face and legs, including a laceration to the inside of his mouth, the DOJ said.

“Racially motivated and hate-fueled attacks on Black people have no place in this country,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

“As we mark 13 years since passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, we renew our commitment to using all the tools in our law enforcement arsenal to prosecute unlawful acts of hate.”

A sentencing hearing has not yet been set. Lashley faces a maximum term of 10 years imprisonment, three years of mandatory supervised release, and a $250,000 fine, the DOJ said.

Lashley was charged in an indictment that was unsealed on June 17. The indictment charged Lashley and co-defendant Robert Dewayne Lashley, each aiding and abetting one another, with willfully causing bodily injury to the victim because of the victim’s actual and perceived race. Robert Dewayne Lashley pleaded guilty on Oct. 4.

Assistant Attorney General Clarke, U.S. Attorney Handberg, and Special Agent in Charge Onks made the announcement.

The FBI and the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office investigated the matter. Trial Attorneys Maura White and Matthew Tannenbaum of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney William Hamilton for the Middle District of Florida are prosecuting the case.