Jacksonville Dave & Buster’s employee pleads not guilty to manslaughter after victim dies in fight

ActionNewsJax.com News Staff
·2 min read
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A man who police say was involved in a fight at Dave & Buster’s where the victim later died pleaded not guilty to manslaughter on Monday.

Action News Jax told you in January that police said Cordell Bentley Russell, 34, an employee at Dave & Buster’s in Jacksonville was involved in a serious fight at the business on Saturday, Jan. 21.

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Russell was originally facing a charge of aggravated battery, but a charge of manslaughter was added after the victim died, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said. The charge of aggravated battery was consolidated into the charge of manslaughter on Friday, Feb. 24, court records show.

According to an arrest report from Russell’s original arrest for aggravated battery, Russell was agitated after working all day on Saturday, Jan. 21.

Exclusive: Family identifies victim of fatal attack at Jacksonville Dave & Buster’s

A witness told police that someone told Russell to “‘put the food right there’ in a strong tone,” the arrest report said.

“I’m a grown (expletive) man, don’t talk to me like that,” Russell responded, according to the arrest report.

Details of what happened after that are redacted from the police report. Witnesses told police the victim was foaming at the mouth and his heart stopped.

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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said the victim, who family identified to Action News Jax as Thony Roy, 28, was unresponsive when the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department arrived and they took him to the hospital.

A doctor told police at the hospital the victim in the fight had a pulse, “but that he was possibly ‘brain dead,’” the arrest report said.

JSO said Russell was identified as a person of interest by the officers who responded to the fight and later that day, patrol officers located and arrested Russell for aggravated battery.

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After the victim died, JSO’s Homicide Team #1 took over the investigation into the death of the victim.

“As a result of their detailed investigation, evaluation of available evidence, and the interviewing of multiple witnesses, the charges were upgraded, and suspect Russell was re-arrested for Manslaughter,” JSO said January in a news release.

Russell’s next pre-trial hearing is set for Tuesday, March 28 at 9 a.m.

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