Crime & Safety

Trevor Dooley Found Guilty of Manslaughter in Twin Lakes Playground Shooting

More than two years after David James was shot and killied in his Twin Lakes neighborhood, the man accused of the shooting, Trevor Dooley, has been found guilty of manslaughter.

 

Trevor Dooley, 71, a former Hillsborough school bus driver accused of fatally shooting a father in front of his 8-year-old daughter in a playground at the Twin Lakes community in Valrico, has been found guilty of manslaughter.

Charged in the Sept. 26, 2010 death of David "D.J." James, 41, Dooley was found guilty today, Nov. 19, after hours of jury deliberation, according to a report from ABC Action News. Dooley, who soon will be sentenced, also was found guilty of improper exhibition of a firearm and openly carrying a firearem, according to the report.

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Dooley, who lived across the street from the playground, shot and killed James, who reacted when Dooley flashed a gun after yelling at a skateboarder to clear away from the park.

"It was my fault," the anguished skateboarder, Spencer Arthur, told a dispatcher, according to a Dec. 14 report posted at Tampa Bay Times. "He [Dooley] got mad at me because I was skateboarding. I didn't know what the rules are. I don't live there."

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Arthur had reportedly asked James, who was at the basketball court that September day to shoot hoops with his daughter, if it was okay to skateboard. Dooley reportedly shouted for the boy to stop and he did. That's when James and Dooley started the exchange and confrontation that led to James' death.

Dooley's defense attorneys argued for a "Stand Your Ground" defense, a motion that was denied by a judge earlier this year.

A reporter from WTSP.com reported live outside the courthouse Nov. 13, hours before jury selection was to begin at 8 a.m. The video of that report, posted online, gives a recap of the case.

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