Norris Gaynor

Norris was sleeping in a Fort Lauderdale park when he was attacked with baseball bats by three teenagers.  This fatal attack, perpetrated by Thomas Daugherty, Brian Hooks and William Ammons, was the start of a late night spree which left two other homeless individuals critically injured.  All three attacks would have been avoided if there had been a place for these people to stay.  That’s where Homeless Voice comes in.
Homeless Under Attack

Homeless Hate Crimes

On May 20, 2010 the homeless hate crimes bill was signed by Gov. Charlie Crist. House Bill11 will provide stiffer penalties to those targeting to hurt the homeless because they are homeless.
Norris will be honored as his case continues to help us to educate the public; he and his loving family are in our prayers.
These types of crimes will no longer be un-heard-of as Norris Gaynor was the beginning and his memory will save the lives of our homeless friends as well as preventing other teens from doing these same vicious acts. His experience will change the perspective of the ignorant.
Norris Gaynor was sleeping in a park on a bench when teens hit him over and over with baseball bats simply because he was homeless. Not only did they kill Norris on that horrible day, they also attacked two other homeless men in separate attacks during that same night.
After the Judge ordered Mr. Thomas Daugherty to a life sentence, Sam Gaynor stated “Life is such a short word, and such a long time”.  Brian Hooks also received a life sentence, while William Ammons testified against the others to have his sentence reduce to 15 years.
We hope the quote above will help other teens so they understand that even a onetime offence of killing a homeless person can land them in prison for the rest of their life with no chance of getting out early.
Samuel Gaynor was asked if he could forgive, he then said “God is the forgiver and we only can try to cover the scratches on our souls.”