TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – Jury selections are set to begin Monday as trial starts for the man charged with killing another person at a Hillsborough County dog park.

Jury selection will start the trial off in the case of Gerald Radford.

Sunday marked the one-year anniversary of the deadly shooting at West Dog Park. Radford is accused of killing John ‘Walt’ Lay.

Prosecutors said the shooting was fueled by hate and was the culmination of harassment. The state’s evidence includes records of jail phone calls during which Radford referred to Lay using homophobic slurs.

Radford claimed he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Lay.

In December a judge denied the 66-year-old’s request to dismiss the case based on the ‘stand your ground’ defense.

Independent local criminal defense attorney Bryant Camareno said the option for this defense will present challenges moving forward in the case.

“It definitely hurt the case as it relates to the accused that hurt him because that would have been on real shot of getting this dismissed before getting to the point where we are right now, which is the jury selection. So, it’s absolutely detrimental to his case,” Camareno said.

According to Camareno jury selection is critical in the case. “Vital to the defense and vital to the prosecution to find a panel of jurors that are going to be unbiased. They’re going to come into this without, hopefully, will very little knowledge about the facts, and two, with an open mind as to whether or not stand your ground or self-defense is a viable defense they agree with,” Camareno describes.

Prosecutors said if convicted, they’ll see additional hate crime penalties against Radford. Once jury selection is complete, the trial is expected to last one week.