HERNANDO COUNTY, Fla. – A Brooksville man was recently found guilty of manslaughter in the 2015 death of 18-year-old Dylan Thornton. However, the defense maintains the convicted man is innocent and points to another individual as the true culprit.
Thornton’s body was discovered days after he disappeared from his 18th birthday party. The medical examiner initially attributed his death to an accidental overdose of “Flakka.”
Two years later, Isaac Troy Lemons was arrested and charged with third-degree murder and the sale of a controlled substance, based largely on conflicting statements from Thornton’s friends, according to Defense Attorney Debra Tuomey.
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Lemons’ first trial in 2021 resulted in a hung jury, with one juror voting for his guilt. However, in a recent retrial, he was convicted of manslaughter.
A juror, Kendra Corbitt, from the 2021 trial said, “Isaac should have never been charged. The person who should be charged is the guy who was walking with him and left him, dead, or dying, and went to Walmart, and never told where his “friend” was when he was “missing.” It never sat right with me. He is guilty of something. And they put him as a witness against Isaac.”
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The defense argues that this conviction, based on even less evidence than the previous trial, raises questions about the fairness of the proceedings. They also assert that the true perpetrator, a state’s witness, was the last person to see Thornton alive and took steps to conceal his involvement.
The defense has filed motions seeking an acquittal or a new trial, citing issues such as the lack of evidence proving Lemons sold the fatal drug and allegations of judicial bias.
The case awaits the judge’s ruling on these motions, with sentencing scheduled for November.
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