Watch: Charges Filed in Shooting Death of Florida Gay Man; Suspect Had Claimed 'Self Defense'

A suspect who had sought shelter behind Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law after killing a gay man at a dog park now faces charges, and prosecutors are looking to treat the shooting as a hate crime, according to NBC News.

"Gerald Declan Radford, 65, was charged with second-degree murder for the deadly shooting of John Walter Lay," NBC News reported, citing "the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office."

"Prosecutors said their investigation revealed that Radford used bigoted slurs toward the victim prior to shooting him," the report added, "and are seeking a hate crime enhancement on the charge."

In a statement, Florida's State Attorney, Suzy Lopez, declared, "We should all be able to enjoy a day at the dog park without the fear of gunfire."

"This victim also deserved to live free from fear and discrimination based on his sexual orientation," Lopez added. "The evidence shows the defendant's actions were motivated by hate, and he will be held accountable."

As previously reported, Lay was shot and killed on Feb. 2 – a day after he had alerted family members that Radford had threatened his life.

"This morning, while I'm walking, we're the only two here, and he comes up to me and screams at me, 'You're going to die! You're going to die!'" Lay said in a Feb. 1 video message he sent to his mother and sister.

Lay's sister, Sabrena Hughes, told the media that "Radford had been harassing her brother for about two years," the report said. "She said that caused her brother to start going to a different dog park, before his friends convinced him to return," 10 Tampa Bay WTSP detailed.

Radford's claim that Lay attacked him and he was defending himself didn't square with the man Lay's friends and family say they knew. They also expressed the belief that Lay was targeted for being gay.

One friend of Lay's, Paul Gumpert, told WTSP that he was "100%" sure Lay's sexual orientation made him a target, "because he [Radford] didn't do it to anyone else."

Another friend of Lay's, identified only as Kim, told WTSP that Lay "didn't deserve to die because of his sexual orientation and his [differing] opinions."

"Albert Darlington was a good friend of Lay," the news report recounted. "They would go together to the dog park where Darlington said he witnessed the harassment from Radford."

"Lay, according to Darlington, would never engage."

Darlington – who also knew Radford – told the WTSP, "I'm not a lawyer.... but to me, this is a hate crime."

Darlington expanded on that thought in other comments made to the media, Huffpost reported.

"For over a year, [Radford] has done nothing but harass Walt," the outlet quoted Darlington saying. "He screams and hollers and calls him a f****t every time he gets to the dog park."

Darlington added that Radford would "sit there and he'll say, 'I'd like to punch him right in the f**king mouth' ... and it has gotten worse and worse and worse."

Darlington received a text message from Radford on the day of the shooting that "included a photo with apparent injuries to his face," the WTSP report detailed.

"I'm so sorry to tell you, Walt attacked me at the park and I had to defend myself," the text said.

But Darlington didn't buy it.

"My first impression was, this looks like you're building an excuse for something that already happened," Huffpost quoted Darlington saying. "Little did I know that Walt was already dead."

Lopez's office, in a media release, acknowledged community concerns at the fact that a month elapsed between the shooting and charges being filed, NBC News noted.

"It is important to note how difficult it can be to refute a Stand Your Ground claim in some cases because the only other witness to the incident is deceased," the statement from Lopez's office said.

"Throughout the course of this investigation, community members stepped forward with important information about ongoing tensions that helped add context to the incident," the statement went on to add.

"LGBTQ advocates welcomed the charges, but criticized state law that protects individuals from facing prosecution for a homicide if they claim they killed someone in order to defend themselves, also known as a 'stand your ground' law," NBC News relayed.

Equality Florida weighed in on the tragedy, as well as the controversial law, NBC News detailed.

"With the arrest of Gerald Declan Radford, the question of guilt moves to the courts, but the verdict is already in on Florida's notorious Stand Your Ground law: This law doesn't just fail to protect; it actively endangers, turning what should be last-resort measures into first instincts, with tragic outcomes," the advocacy group said.

"The absence of a duty to retreat to safety is too often exploited to justify murder without consequence," Equality Florida added in its statement.

To watch the NBC News clip, follow this link.