Crime & Safety

Lawyer Says Dooley Won't Return to Valrico if Released

Trevor Dooley was sentenced for fatally shooting a neighbor after an argument at a Valrico park.


Trevor Dooley, the man sentenced to eight years in prison in November for fatally shooting a neighbor, won't return to the Valrico area if released, according to a TBO.com report that quoted his lawyer.

Dooley's lawyer reportedly said Dooley has sold his house and his family has moved from the area. The article notes that Dooley on Monday, Feb. 4, went before judge Moody, who sentenced him in January, to ask for bail pending his appeals ruling.

Moody reserved ruling on whether to release Dooley on bail or not while he appeals his conviction.

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Dooley, 71, a former Hillsborough school bus driver was convicted of fatally shooting a father in front of his 8-year-old daughter in a playground at the Twin Lakes community in Valrico.

Charged in the Sept. 26, 2010 death of David "D.J." James, 41, Dooley was found guilty on Nov. 19, after hours of jury deliberation, according to a report from ABC Action News. Dooley was 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."

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.


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