FL - Jorge Diaz-Johnston, 54, LGBTQ rights activist, found dead in Baker landfill, 3 Jan 2022

[imstilla.grandma]

A gay rights advocate who was integral in legalizing same-sex marriage in Florida was found dead in a landfill in what is being investigated as a homicide, authorities said Wednesday.

Jorge Diaz-Johnston, 54, the brother of former Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, had been last seen alive Jan. 3, Tallahassee police said. Shortly after a missing person alert was issued for him Saturday, his body was found in a trash pile at a landfill in Baker, Florida, about 60 miles east of the Alabama border, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.
Florida gay rights activist found dead in landfill

 

[killarney rose]

Actually, he was found in the landfill in Campbellton, FL. I think that is in Jackson County. It is where the refuse from Baker is dumped. This would be inbetween Baker and Tallahassee. At least that is what my local news reports are saying. It’s local to me.

Missing man found dead in landfill is the brother of former Miami mayor | WDHN - DothanFirst.com

Missing man found dead in landfill was integral in Florida marriage equality

Missing man found dead in landfill was integral in Florida marriage equality

 

[dotr]

Jorge Diaz-Johnston

| CREDIT: TALLAHASSEE POLICE/TWITTER
Missing Florida Man, 'Hero' of LGBTQ+ Rights, Found Dead in Landfill | PEOPLE.com
"Jorge was a crucial part of this historic lawsuit that's one of the biggest moments of the LGBTQ civil rights movement in Florida history," Stratton Pollitzer, deputy director of Equality Florida, the state's leading gay rights group, told the paper. "It's incomprehensible to hear that one of our heroes has been taken from us."


Diaz-Johnston was a recent doctoral student of religion at Florida State University. His brother, Manny Diaz, is the former mayor of Miami, and the new chair of the Florida Democratic Party.

Detectives urge anyone who may have information to call 850-891-4200, or make an anonymous tip to Big Bend Crime Stoppers at 850-574-TIPS.''

 

[dotr]

January 20, 2022
Jorge Diaz-Johnston, ‘hero’ activist for LGBTQ rights in Florida, found dead in a landfill - The Washington Post
''July 25, 2014, was a day of celebration for Jorge Diaz and Don Johnston, romantic partners and plaintiffs in a lawsuit that sought to legalize same-sex marriage in Miami-Dade County. A judge had just ruled in their favor, priming Miami-Dade to become Florida’s first county to allow same-sex couples to marry.

“I’m excited. I’m thrilled. My phone has blown up with texts and emails of congratulations. I’m elated,” Diaz, the younger brother of Miami’s former mayor, Manny Diaz, told the Miami Herald at the time.''

''The 54-year-old, who went by the surname Diaz-Johnston after his marriage, was last seen alive on Jan. 3 near his workplace in Tallahassee, according to the Democrat. Don Diaz-Johnston reported his husband missing in the late hours of Jan. 7, after Jorge’s co-workers said he had not shown up to the office, Turner told The Post. Jorge Diaz-Johnston’s body was found the next morning.

Police are investigating how and why the body arrived at the landfill. Turner said police are looking into the possibility that a garbage truck collected the body in Okaloosa County, about 160 miles west of Tallahassee, and transported it east to the Jackson County landfill, where the body was first discovered, as the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office reported in a news release.''

 

[PayrollNerd]

https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/15/us/man-convicted-murder-jorge-diaz-johnston/index.html

The Leon County jury found Steven R. Yinger guilty of first-degree murder, tampering with evidence, grand theft motor vehicle, grand theft and criminal use of a personal identification number, court records show.

 

[dotr]

Steven Yinger, (L) charged in the murder of Jorge Diaz-Johnston, (R) (Leon County Detention Facility mugshot/Family photo)

Roommate of Florida LGBTQ+ rights activist found dead in landfill is charged with murder

Yinger has an extensive criminal past – including theft, drug and battery charges – dating back to 2004, according to the Leon County Sheriff

www.washingtonblade.com

rbbm

Man sentenced to life in prison for 2022 murder of a Florida LGBTQ advocate and brother of a former Miami mayor

(CNN) — A Florida man was sentenced to life in prison Friday after a jury found him guilty in the 2022 murder of his roommate, an LGBTQ advocate and brother

www.local3news.com

''The judge assigned to the case sentenced him immediately to life in prison, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.''

''The body of Jorge Diaz-Johnston was discovered in January 2022 in a Jackson County landfill several days after he was last seen. Police believe Diaz-Johnston was strangled with a ligature and his body was wrapped in bed linens and dumped in the trash at his home, the probable cause section in search warrants in the case indicate.

A grand jury indicted Yinger in April 2022, alleging he strangled Diaz-Johnston between January 3 and 5 of that year.''

''Diaz-Johnston’s husband, Don Diaz-Johnston, reported him missing, according to search warrants. Don Diaz-Johnston told police Yinger was his husband’s roommate and his husband had been planning to ask Yinger to move out because they hadn’t been getting along.''

“Jorge didn’t charge him rent, never had expectations, until he could get a job and support himself, and that’s who Jorge was,” Don Diaz-Johnston told WPLG in 2022.''