CITRUS SPRINGS, Fla. — The second man connected to a violent attack against a Black man in Citrus County back in 2021 pleaded guilty, the Department of Justice reports.
Roy Lashley, 55, faces a maximum term of 10 years imprisonment, three years of mandatory supervised release and a $250,000 fine. 52-year-old Robert Lashley, the other man charged in the alleged attack, is facing the same consequences after also pleading guilty earlier this month.
“The defendant in this case deliberately and brutally attacked the victim because of his race,” U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg for the Middle District of Florida said in a statement. “There is no place in our country for this type of abhorrent behavior, and we will prosecute those who commit these heinous crimes to the fullest extent of the law.
A sentencing hearing hasn't yet been set for the 55-year-old.
According to earlier arrest affidavits, the attack happened in November 2021 outside a Dollar General in Citrus Springs. Investigators say the 24-year-old victim was found lying in a median along Deltona Boulevard, between the Dollar General and the Family Dollar.
Investigators say the 24-year-old told them he was walking away from the Dollar General and toward the Family Dollar when he heard Robert calling him racist slurs from a parking lot. According to an affidavit, the victim said Robert then ran across Deltona Boulevard, began punching him in the face, and got him on the ground where Robert kept hitting him. Roy ran over and struck the victim repeatedly with an axe handle, an affidavit said.
The affidavit says Roy, at one point, was heard telling Robert, "Come on, we have to go before the cops get here."
When law enforcement arrived, authorities say Roy kicked a deputy while being arrested.
At the time, Roy was booked locally for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, battery on a law enforcement officer and resisting a law enforcement officer. Robert was initially charged with battery.
