The Joseph Family
By Dan SullivanTimes staff
TAMPA — Corey Thornton was 12 the night he went with Andrew Joseph III to the Florida State Fair. His mother would only let him go if he was with Joseph, who at 14 was something of a neighborhood big brother, and with whom he felt safe.
Now 21, Thornton sat on the witness stand in a Tampa federal courtroom Friday and detailed everything the pair did the night of Feb. 7, 2014 — from when they arrived at the fair to when sheriff’s deputies kicked them out to the moment he saw his friend die.
His memories of that night, still vivid eight years later, were the focus of the fifth day of testimony in the federal lawsuit Joseph’s parents have brought against Hillsborough County sheriff’s officials. Their lawyers have accused the Sheriff’s Office of setting in motion the events that led to their son’s death when he tried to run across Interstate 4 in what’s been described as a desperate effort to get back to where a friend’s mother had dropped them off earlier that evening.
Thornton pressed a finger to a touchscreen to draw a red line over an aerial map of the fairgrounds. He showed a jury the path he and Joseph walked as they struggled to find their way back to the main gate, where they were to be picked up.
He described their run across the interstate and Joseph’s decision to turn back before he was struck by an SUV.
“Didn’t make it back,” Thornton said.
His eyes glistening, he let out a few heavy breaths and whimpered.
“I can’t do this, man,” he said.