65-year-old guilty of 2nd degree attempted murder, gets 25 years

PLANT CITY (FOX 13) - A gun, a golf cart,  and a lovers rage. All led to a shooting in a retirement community in Plant City.

Now, the shooter, 65-year-old David Southwick will spend 25 years behind bars. A jury just found him guilty of attempted second degree murder, a lesser charge than he originally faced.

During the one-day trial, the jury heard some compelling testimony, including from the victim, Jill Cutler.

She told the jury about the terrifying moments last December, when she said her boyfriend tried to kill her.

"He said to me, 'you don't know it ,but you are already dead,'" Cutler told the jury.

She said, the day of the shooting, she had broken up with Southwick because he had a drinking problem. Later that day, he drove his golf cart to her home in the retirement community of Country Wood Lakes, and began shooting.

Cutler said she ran for her life.

"I believed he was going to kill me," she recalled.

The jury saw pictures of the gunshots all over Cutler's house, and the gunshot wound to her leg. After three hours of deliberating, the jury found Southwick guilty of attempted second degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of 25 years in prison.

Before sentencing him, Hillsborough Judge Michelle Sisco addressed Southwick.

"I feel really bad for you, Mr. Southwick, but the law is the law," said Sisco.

And with that, sentenced him to 25 years in prison. for the 65-year-old defendant, it could be a life sentence.