Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO) personnel have arrested a man in connection with the alleged battery and subsequent death of a man in Weeki Wachee.
The HCSO investigation into the incident began shortly after 6:30 p.m. on May 28 when deputies responded to a call about an unresponsive man lying in the driveway of a home on Galloway Road in Weeki Wachee.
The man had allegedly been involved in a physical altercation with 57-year-old Raymond Garrity that left him unresponsive. At the scene, personnel from the Hernando County Fire Rescue treated the man and then transported him to Oak Hill Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
During their investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, detectives learned that the victim, Garrity, and the two other men were all longtime friends.
According to investigators, the victim, his dog, and two other men were sitting in the driveway of the Weeki Wachee home talking when Garrity, who was walking his dog, approached and struck up a conversation with them. When his dog began interacting with the dog belonging to the victim, Garrity allegedly “nudged” the dog several times with his foot to move it away from his dog.
The victim asked Garrity to stop nudging his dog, but Garrity allegedly nudged the dog again. The two dog owners became engaged in a physical fight for a few minutes. When the altercation stopped, the resident of the Galloway Road home asked Garrity to leave. He subsequently returned to his own residence nearby.
Shortly after the altercation, the other man showed symptoms of cardiac arrest before collapsing in the driveway. After an autopsy, the Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the man’s death a homicide.
Following its review of the case, the State Attorney’s Office issued an arrest warrant for Raymond Garrity for one count of Manslaughter. On August 14, Fifth Judicial Circuit Court Judge Don Barbee signed an arrest warrant for Garrity.
He was arrested at his residence at 8:30 p.m. the same day and booked into the Hernando County Detention Center on one count of Manslaughter. On August 15, Garrity was released on a $30,000 bond. The case is pending.
