SEBRING, Fla. (Court TV) — A man faces a potential death sentence if a Florida jury convicts him of murdering a deputy whose watch ended while investigating the shooting of a pet cat. But the defense has called his mental health into question.
Joseph Ables is charged with the first-degree murder of Deputy William Gentry. (Highland County Sheriff’s Office)
Joseph Edward Ables is charged with first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and cruelty to a cat after a deadly incident near his Lake Placid home.
Assistant State Attorney Bonde Johnson said that on May 6, 2018, Ables’ neighbor, Susan Naylor, was painting her house when she heard a “pop” sound from Ables’ home. Immediately after, Naylor noticed that her 13-year-old cat, Mr. Brown, had been struck by a bullet. She held her cat as he died before carrying him over to Ables’ home to confront him. Prosecutors said Ables compassionately denied shooting the animal and tried to comfort his neighbor for her loss.
Deputies William Gentry and Erica Lavender of the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office responded to the call of a killed pet at the pet owner’s home. Naylor told responding deputies that she believed Ables was the person who killed her pet. Gentry went to Ables’ home to speak to him.
Prosecutors said that Gentry read Ables’ driver’s license to dispatchers and learned he was a felon on supervised probation. At that point, Gentry asked the dispatchers to call Ables’ probation officer.
Neighbors and other first responders reported hearing gunshots. When other deputies arrived at Ables’ home, they saw his vehicle running in the garage and Ables standing near the open driver’s door. Gentry was found unresponsive, lying inside the home’s screened-in entrance.
The prosecution highlighted the evidence that tied Ables to the crime, including his confession to an acquaintance shortly after the shooting, in which Ables said, “I just killed somebody. It’s a cop.” A .22 caliber revolver was also found in Ables’ vehicle, and forensic evidence connected Ables to the shooting of Naylor’s cat as well.
The defense argued that Ables, having perceived Gentry as an armed intruder in a dark uniform, feared for his life and, in a state of mental flashback to his Vietnam experiences, reacted in self-defense. The defense contends that Ables’ actions were driven by fear and a belief that he was in imminent danger, adhering to his training from his military service.
Prosecutors filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty under Florida’s new laws, which changed the requirement for the sentence to a jury majority of 8-4 rather than the unanimous decision previously required.
TRIAL UPDATES
DAY 1 – 10/16/24
Opening statements:
- Assistant State Attorney Bonde Johnson pointed to Joseph Ables’ violent past and confession, along with forensic evidence tying him to both the cat’s shooting and the responding officer, Dep. William Gentry.
- Defense attorney Debra Tuomey says Joseph Ables acted in self-defense when he fatally shot Deputy William Gentry, thinking he was an intruder after a tense encounter with a neighbor accusing him of killing her cat.
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