Manslaughter of white man (Vonelle Cook) punched after saying "nigger"
The manslaughter of white man (Vonelle Cook), punched after saying "nigger" occurred on May 4, 2021 when 77-year-old white male victim Vonelle Cook was punched by 27-year-old black male Corey Ellis Pujols.[1]
| Manslaughter of white man (Vonelle Cook) punched after saying "nigger" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Dunkin', 410 S. 50th St., Tampa, FL |
| Coordinates | 27°56′53″N 82°24′04″W / 27.9479628911816°N 82.40117657241248°W Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed. |
| Date | May 4, 2021 1:29 PM |
Attack type | Manslaughter |
| Victims |
|
| Assailant |
|
Corey Ellis Pujols | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Criminal charge |
|
Incident[edit]
Cook had went through the Dunkin' drive-thru, but due to a mistake with his order began arguing with employees and eventually entered the store. There, he called Pujols, the manager of the Dunkin', "nigger,"[3] and after Pujols dared him to say it again, he did, which caused Pujols to punch him in the head.[1]
Cook was hospitalized and later died of his injuries due to a skull fracture. Pujols was initially arrested on a battery charge and released on bond, but was later re-arrested for manslaughter after Cook's death.[4]
Initially, the media was unable to report the victim's name or identifying information due to police withholding it due to a conservative interpretation of Marsy's Law.[5] Later, the media was able to identify the victim via court documents.
Cook was a registered sex offender who spent five years in prison for luring teen boys into his home with comic books, video games and candy and performing sexual acts.[5]
Social media defense of Pujols[edit]
Black social media users came to Pujols's defense, calling him a "king" and justifying Pujols's punch as self defense with lines like "White people using the nword and subsequently killing black people isn't new."[6]
Some social media users linked to a GoFundMe for Cook[7], which is currently unavailable and seemingly taken down by the company.
Court documents[edit]
We obtained the following relevant court documents from the Hillsborough County, Florida court case search:[8]
- File:CaseNumber 21-CF-005450-A.pdf
- File:CaseNumber 21-CF-005269-A.pdf
- File:CRIMINAL REPORT AFFIDAVIT FILED WARRANT SERVED db5a877e-cfd8-4855-955c-c552aa71c23d.pdf
- File:FIRST APPEARANCE DOCKET PAGE 98298359-3ec3-4771-b3c8-20065feaccef.pdf
- File:MOTION TO REDUCE BOND OR ROR ea682342-af9d-487c-a531-a7bbb03e4457.pdf
- File:NOTICE OF HEARING 8f6027e4-5490-46b9-b2c2-a430246acbba.pdf
- File:CRIMINAL REPORT AFFIDAVIT FILED d7c8c839-2af2-44bf-9a41-7f5e979e321c.pdf
- File:SURETY BOND POSTED 6988e07f-6ca4-46f7-b2e5-3172373a28e4.pdf
- File:O R D E R A P P O I N T I N G P U B L I C D E F E N D E R 87ef53e4-7e3c-462a-8ac0-08e7a48bb489.pdf
See Also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://patch.com/florida/southtampa/despite-racial-slur-state-attorney-upholds-manslaughter-charge
- ↑ File:CaseNumber 21-CF-005450-A.pdf
- ↑ File:CRIMINAL REPORT AFFIDAVIT FILED d7c8c839-2af2-44bf-9a41-7f5e979e321c.pdf
- ↑ https://weartv.com/news/local/report-florida-dunkin-employee-punches-kills-man-who-called-him-a-racial-slur
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2021/05/25/victim-in-fatal-tampa-dunkin-punch-case-identified/
- ↑ https://www.lawenforcementtoday.com/twittersphere-justifying-fatal-punching-of-77-year-old-by-dunkin-donuts-employee/
- ↑ https://www.gofundme.com/f/wqu2gj-stand-by-corey-pujols
- ↑ https://hover.hillsclerk.com/html/case/caseSearch.html
