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An unidentified homeless man knocked over a grill and ended up losing his head early Tuesday morning in Sarasota.
Ricky L. Leer, 48, another homeless resident of Sarasota, now stands charged of second-degree murder after allegedly lopping off the man’s head with a machete-like knife.
Leer, the victim, and another man had set up a makeshift camp in a wooded area in Sarasota, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. All three are believed to have been homeless.
The trio was cooking steaks on a grill and drinking rum early Tuesday morning when the victim supposedly knocked over the grill.
Upset about his ruined meal, a drunken Leer pinned the victim to the ground and refused to let him up. He then grabbed a knife and began chopping the victim’s neck.
The third man fled and called police. He identified Leer as the culprit. After locating the headless body, deputies found Lee leaning against a nearby tree and swigging rum.
This isn’t Leer’s first run-in with police. He spent time in state prison for a 2007 robbery, but now he could face a much longer stint behind bars.
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