Father Speaks Out After Son’s Killer Is Sentenced To Only One Year In Jail But Not For Murder
Feb. 3 marks three years since Dominic “DJ” Broadus II, who was only 31 years old, was killed by Gardner Kent Fraser. On Jan. 25, Fraser, the son of a sheriff's office deputy, was only sentenced to one year in jail for tampering with evidence, and served no time for taking the life of another man, who was a son and father of a 13-year-old.
Dominic's father is now speaking out.
In a Jan. 26 interview on The Clay Cane Show on SiriusXM Urban View, Dominic Broadus Sr. reacted to the one-year sentence by saying, "They're trying to feed us crumbs. We're all disappointed beause we know what the real charge should be, if not manslaugher then murder in the first degree."
Broadus II was killed at Fraser’s home on Feb. 3, 2018. According to Jacksonville’s News4Jax, the state argued there was a sexual relationship between the two men. The state also accused Fraser of getting rid of Broadus's phone "because he wanted to hide the relationship."
Another local news outlet, ActionNewsJax, reports, "Between July 2017 and February 2018, 35 texts and 115 phone calls were exchanged. Images and the conversations were sexual in nature, according to investigators." The defense claims “there wasn’t a relationship and that Fraser has a right not to want certain information released.”
Broadus’ phone was never found. Additionally, Fraser waited 21 minutes to dial 911 after Broadus was shot four times, twice in the head. It was also learned that before he called 911, Fraser called his cousin.
The deputy who arrived at the scene apparently also knew Fraser’s father, a former Baker County Sheriff’s Office deputy, which even the judge later saw as a possibile of a conflict of interest.
Judge James Colaw claimed “it appeared the Sheriff’s Office quickly realized the possible conflict of interest and turned the case over to 4th Circuit State Attorney Melissa Nelson for investigation and prosecution.”
Back in May, Fraser was charged only with tampering with evidence due to Florida’s stand your ground law.
During the interview with Cane, Broadus Sr. as asked whether or not he believes Fraser killed his son because they were in some kind of relationship and he was in fear of being outed or exposed?”
“Yes, that’s exactly it,” Broadus Sr. stated.
“That's exactly the reasoning behind it. You can see he denied it. He was going to deny it… until the Jacksonville state attorney's office came up with evidence through technology to recover and unlock Gardner’s phone.”
Fraser claimed self defense and was only charged with deleting communications on his phone after the shooting, which is a felony. He was sentenced to one year in the Baker County jail followed by four years of probation.
As for tampering with evidence conviction, Broadus Sr. tells Cane, “The real motive is not tampering with evidence. The motive behind destroying phone is trying to hide his bisexual tendency and executing on my son, murder -- premeditated.”
Broadus Sr. also said he was not aware of his son’s sexual orientation until he was killed.
It came as a surprise to us,” he said. “That's something we discuss as a family and you deal with, as a family. You don't have someone killed or executed because of that.”
He continued, “We still love DJ. We'll always love DJ. You can't judge a person based on their sexual nature. You got to base it on the content of their character. You don't base it on these prejudices. We've got to start getting over that.”
Dominic “DJ” Broadus Sr. is hoping for a future federal charge against Gardner Kent Fraser as a first step toward justice for his son.
Watch Broadus Sr.’s interview on The Clay Cane Show below.
