Former Gators captain Tony Joiner charged with murder

By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher

Earl Antonio “Tony” Joiner, the former Florida Gators safety and team captain, was charged with murder this weekend. He was booked into the Polk County Jail on Saturday.

Joiner is now facing a second-degree murder charge in connection with his wife’s death, according to the Fort Myers News-Press. Heyzel Obando died in 2016.

The publication also states that Joiner was arrested twice previously for allegedly beating Obando. The News-Press wrote that Obando was dead in her Maple Crest Apartments on Valentine’s Day in 2016.

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Her death was unsolved before Joiner was arrested. He was arrested in Lake Wales, according to the authorities.

Joiner is expected to be transported to the Lee County Jail.

“As a mother, I understand the pain his mother is going through,” Obando’s mother Isabel Martinez said to the News-Press. “But as a mother, no one is going to take my pain away. Now that he is arrested, I hope he feels the weight of the law.”

The authorities believed her death was suspicious from the beginning. It was ruled as a homicide two months after her death.

Joiner played for the Games from 2004 through 2007. He was also a member of the 2006 Gators National Championship team that defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes.

He had 150 tackles, including 9.5 tackles for a loss in 43 games. He also had five interceptions.

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Joiner is now the second Gators player, who has been charged with murder when Urban Meyer was head coach. The 2007 season also featured Aaron Hernandez, who had nine receptions for 151 yards.

Hernandez was convicted of murdering Odin Lloyd in 2013. He was charged and convicted of first-degree murder.

His sentence was life in prison without parole. He was also acquitted of murder charges in the deaths of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado.

Hernandez had many other troubling incidents, including an alleged shooting of Alexander Bradley. There was also a double shooting in Gainesville in 2007 that Hernandez allegedly took part in.

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