Ocala courthouse: Trial begins for man accused of killing homeless man

In January 2019, a 62-year-old homeless man was found shot to death in his tent. On Tuesday, the trial of a man charged in the death began in retired Circuit Judge Willard Pope's courtroom.

La'Mathis Eugene "Bread Boy" Hamilton is charged with the first-degree murder of Roland Henry Lanctot. A 12-member jury is hearing the case. If convicted, Hamilton, 31, could spend the rest of his life in prison. He's presently at the Marion County Jail.

Ocala Police Department officers said Lanctot's body was discovered by his sister in a heavily wooded area near Northwest Blitchton Road and Northwest 33rd Avenue. The victim had been shot more than once, officials said.

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Deadly shooting

Hamilton, of Reddick, and Ocala resident Allison Mells, 57, are charged with Lanctot's killing. Authorities said the victim was killed because he was a crucial witness in a drug case that involved Mells’ son, Kenneth Mills.

Officials said Lanctot was a confidential informant and had conducted several drug transactions under the direction of the Unified Drug Enforcement Strike Team or UDEST. Some of those deals included Mills.

Authorities believe the triggerman was Hamilton, and he admitted selling a gun to Mells after he was approached to help kill Lanctot.

Hamilton said Mells paid him $3,000 to kill Lanctot, but Hamilton has denied shooting the victim.

Mells is charged with first-degree murder and criminal solicitation to commit murder. His trial is scheduled for next week.

Opening statements

Tampa lawyer Daniel Hernandez is representing Hamilton. Assistant State Attorney Amy Berndt is prosecuting the case.

In her opening statement to the jury, Berndt said Lanctot was shot in the face, back of the head and back with a .38-caliber gun. She said the victim was shot so he could "permanently silenced."

Berndt said Lanctot had a peanut business, was married, but had a rough patch. She said his wife divorced him and Lanctot would hang out at a Burger King not far from his tent.

The prosecutor said Lanctot's family helped him. She gave jurors a timeline of Lanctot's last contact to when his body was found.

Police officials picked up several clues during their investigation, Berndt said. For instance, in a traffic stop, a woman told officers that Mells had hired Hamilton to kill the victim.

Then, there was a phone call from the jail where Mells told someone that he needs to bail him out.

Third, there's a recording that implicates Hamilton as the shooter, according to Berndt.

Hernandez told jurors that there's no forensic, scientific or physical evidence that links his client to the murder. He said the prosecution witnesses are "not credible." He added that while his client did speak with detectives, he was under the influence of drugs and lack of sleep.

The lawyer said his client felt pressured to get "the interview over with."

The defense lawyer said Mells had a motive to kill the victim and though Hamilton was offered money to do the job, he did not do it. Instead, he said, Hamilton scammed them.

Testimony in court

Hernandez and Berndt questioned more than a dozen people about the case. Lead Detective Richard Tuck told the court that investigators followed up on every piece of evidence they received.

He said during the investigation, they examined two theories, one of them being the death was a result of the victim being a confidential witness in a drug cases.

Before he was killed, Lanctot was robbed by two prostitutes, according to testimony presented in court.

Two women who testified for the prosecution did so reluctantly. Both women told what they knew about the case.

Hernandez questioned one woman, who at times would ramble and her head lowered while talking, about what she knew about the murder.

The defense lawyer made it known that she was a convicted felon, which she admitted, and would say or do anything against his client. She answered no, telling him she didn't lie to the police.

Family members of both the victim and Hamilton attended the trial, which recessed by mid-afternoon. The trial is expected to continue Wednesday morning.

Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Trial begins for man accused of killing homeless man in Ocala, Florida