A Florida man, charged with felony battery and manslaughter
for killing a woman with a single punch to the face in a Daytona Beach
bar last year, will face at least 11 years in prison.
Michael
Lamothe, 36, could also serve eight years probation after he finishes
his prison term, according to an agreement with prosecutors, The Daytona Beach News-Journal reported Tuesday.
Lamothe pleaded no contest to the charges.
Lamothe,
of Ormond Beach, is accused of killing Debra Jost, 54, last April at
the Oyster Bay bar. According to a police report and surveillance video,
Lamothe sat next to Jost at the bar, went behind her and hugged her. In
doing so, he grabbed her breasts. When Jost told him to get off her,
Lamothe walked away. Then he punched a man, identified as Marc Smith,
who had asked him to leave the bar after Jost became upset.
Lamothe and Smith scuffled for more than a minute and
Lamothe left the bar. According to police, he called to his friend, Matt
Dellinger, in the parking lot and the pair tried to re-enter Oyster
Bar. Jost walked to the bar’s front door and tried to close it to keep
them out, but Dellinger opened the door and Lamothe punched Jost in the
face.
Knocked off her feet, Jost fell backwards, struck
her head on the floor and died a day later of her injuries at Halifax
Health Medical Center, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Dellinger was not charged.
According to the police report, the 6-feet-2-inches, 225-pound Lamothe, described by USA Today as
the “size of a football linebacker,” initially said he did not remember
who he punched. He then said he did punch a woman who was walking
toward him “in a threatening manner.”
Lamothe had a previous misdemeanor battery conviction for
punching another woman in the face outside a strip club in New Smyrna
Beach in 2013 and did six months probation. Also, he was Baker
Acted in
2015. He was accused of intentionally running a red light and causing a
crash near the Rockin’ Ranch in Ormond Beach.
In that
2015 incident, Lamothe texted an ex-girlfriend that he was trying to
kill himself. Lamothe was charged with aggravated battery but
prosecutors did not file charges.
Assistant State
Attorney Chris Miller told the News-Journal that prosecutors agreed to
the 11-year imprisonment deal for Jost’s death because it provided a
certain outcome and would spare Jost’s family the stress of a court
trial. He said her family agreed to the deal.
“At the end
of the day we didn’t see any evidence that he intended to kill her, so
that ruled out first-degree murder,” Miller told the News-Ledger. “We
are talking about one punch. It was catastrophic for sure.”
Lamothe’s sentencing is set for Feb. 27 at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach.
No comments: