According to a source, former University of Florida defensive back Earl “Tony” Joiner accepted a plea agreement with prosecutors in a murder case. Joiner played for the Gators in the 1980s.
On Monday, both the State Attorney’s Office and the player’s attorney, Donna Peterson, acknowledged that a bargain had been made, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times. Both parties refused to offer any more information on the deal.
According to the court records for Lee County that were cited in the article, a plea hearing is set to take place on June 5.
Joiner, who is now 37 years old, participated in four seasons of college football at Florida and served as captain during his last year there.
Between the years 2004 and 2007, the defensive back was a member of the Florida Gators. After the 2006 season of college football, he was a member of the Florida football team that ended up winning the national title.
Joiner was the Gators’ leader in tackles with 59 during the season in which they won the national title, and he added 64 more as a senior.
According to a story in The Ledger newspaper of Lakeland, Joiner, a former football standout at Haines City High School, was taken into custody on June 8, 2019, in Lake Wales, which is located close to Central Florida.
He is suspected of shooting Heyzel Obando, a mother of two daughters who was 26 years old and had been shot in the head. According to the report in the newspaper, her corpse was discovered on February 14, 2016, in Fort Myers.
The true-crime show “Cold Justice,” which airs on the Oxygen network, was responsible for leading to the arrest of Joiner after the case was presented on the show.
According to reports from the Times, Joiner was charged with second-degree murder with the use of a handgun.
According to the publication, the police have acknowledged that the television program has helped move the case ahead.
