Miami Teen Sentenced to Life for Brutal Murder of Homeless Man

by Shannon Moriarty · 2008-10-24 08:02:00 UTC
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A 19-year old Miami man was sentenced to life in prison this week for the brutal killing of a homeless man two years ago.

Thomas Daugherty, 19, received the sentence for his role in the death of Norris Gaynor. Prosecutors say Daugherty and 21-year-old Brian Hooks, who will be sentenced Friday, hid baseball bats in their pants and sneaked up on homeless people including 45-year-old Gaynor.

Gaynor was sleeping on a park bench when the teens beat him so badly they broke his nose, five ribs and crushed his skull.

"I never meant for any of this to happen. It wasn't supposed to happen," a teary-eyed Daugherty told the Gaynor family. "I wasted a human life. I treated him as less than a human and I'm sorry."

Daugherty was one of three teenagers involved in the beating. His accomplice, Brian Hooks, is scheduled for sentencing this afternoon.

Justice has been served for Norris Gaynor, the victim of this terrible crime. Even still, this case is tragic. Doherty is a young man. At 19, he may have watched the online video series Bumfights or been influenced by the rampant, dehumanizing misconceptions about homeless people that plague society. None of these things, of course, put the bat in his hands and forced him to commit this awful crime.

According to the mother of the victim, Georgia Gaynor:

"I get no pleasure out of seeing this young man spending the rest of his life in prison,'' she said. "It's sad.''

[Picture from the Miami News Herald: "They first attacked Jacques Pierre as he sat on a bench at Florida Atlantic University's downtown Fort Lauderdale campus. The attack was captured by a surveillance camera, which shows Daugherty and Hooks relentlessly attacking Pierre with baseball bats, hitting the homeless man at least seven times on or near the head."]

Shannon Moriarty has worked in various homeless shelters and service organizations around the country. She is a graduate student studying housing and urban policy at Tufts University.
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