Pasco: Counselor's arrest stuns peers

Counselor's arrest stuns peers

The man police say admits pulling the trigger on his suicidal friend was a devoted counselor, co-workers say.

By CARY DAVIS

ZEPHYRHILLS -- By all accounts, Thomas Straight's work was his life.

Since the early 1970s, he has spent his days working as a mental health and substance abuse counselor in private facilities and, more recently, state prisons. At night, he taught psychology classes at community colleges.

And when he got home, neighbors said, Straight, now 60, focused his attention on his longtime roommate and friend, David Charles Hood, a man struggling with addiction and suicidal tendencies.

When Hood was a teenager, Straight took him in and tried for 18 years to help him turn his life around, neighbors said. Hood told neighbors he was Straight's adopted son and referred to him as "Dad."

In the early morning hours of May 5, Hood, 36, put a 12-gauge shotgun in his mouth and told Straight he wanted to kill himself, according to Pasco County Sheriff's Office reports. But Straight talked him out of it and persuaded Hood to hand over the gun, reports said.

What happened next at the house Hood and Straight shared at 37432 Northside Drive has shocked Straight's neighbors and colleagues and left them wondering how a man so devoted to helping people could have destroyed a life.

Straight told detectives that Hood assured him the gun wasn't loaded. Straight apparently wasn't convinced, so Hood dared him to pull the trigger, according to reports.

And then, in an instant, Hood was on the floor, dead from a shotgun blast to the head. Straight admitted pointing the gun at Hood and squeezing the trigger, the Sheriff's Office said.

Straight was arrested on manslaughter charges and released after posting $50,000 bail.

"We were astonished when we heard," said Krista Thacker, a psychological specialist at Zephyrhills Correctional Institute, where Straight has worked since 1997. "We couldn't believe it."

Straight transferred to the Zephyrhills prison from Avon Park Correctional Institute, state records show. He has worked as a psychological specialist in the state prison system since 1990, counselling inmates on everything from depression to suicide prevention to chemical dependency.

Straight's annual performance evaluations depict a dedicated professional devoted to helping people overcome their problems. He has never been reprimanded in his 10 years with the corrections department, records show.

His superiors praised his ability to assess and treat inmates. If he had a fault, his superiors wrote, it was that he spent too much time with inmates he deemed to be particularly troubled.

"He's never had anything but the inmates' best interests in mind," said Thacker, describing Straight as "very kind" and "laid-back."

"He's very good at getting inmates to talk about their problems and the things they want to change about themselves." After his arrest, the state Department of Corrections placed Straight on paid leave.

According to the resume he submitted to the corrections department, Straight earned his master's degree in psychology from American University in Washington, D.C., in 1965. He then entered the Ph.D. program at the University of Florida, but left after five years without a doctoral degree. He completed all the required coursework but didn't write a dissertation, according to his resume.

He worked at mental health facilities in Tennessee and Kentucky before moving to Florida in 1982. He spent six years at the Peace River Center for Personal Development in Bartow, then moved to southern Alaska to take a job as clinical director of the Seward Life Action Council.

"He was a very good leader," said Thomas Osborne, the former president of the board of Seward Life Council. "He did a fine job, and in my opinion he was a good man."

Told of Straight's arrest earlier this month, Osborne, now a high school guidance counselor, said: "You're kidding. I'm shocked. That's tough. Boy, that's really tough."

Straight left Alaska after one year and returned to Florida to begin work with the state prison system.

"I think he got homesick," Osborne said.

While working at the prison in Avon Park, Straight taught night classes at South Florida Community College.

"He seemed to be very popular with his students," said Dr. Robert Fitzgerald, chairman of behavioral and social sciences at the community college. "He was very open and very supportive of his students."

Of Straight's arrest, he said: "I'm quite surprised by this. It's very unpleasant to hear, and I wish Tom well."

Straight did not return numerous requests to be interviewed for this story. Calls to his twin brother in Bradenton Beach also were not returned.

On his application for the corrections department, Straight said he was the divorced father of four grown children.

Straight temporarily moved out his house after the shooting, but returned, accompanied by a daughter, for a brief visit on Tuesday, said next-door neighbor Alden Denslow.

"He said he planned to move back someday," Denslow said. "But he's not up to it right now. I guess there are too many memories."

Neighbors said they didn't spend much time with Straight because he was always working.

"He was trying to make a difference," Denslow said.

Denslow said the rural neighborhood supports Straight, but they are struggling to accept how a man they admired could have made such a tragic mistake.

"Even though it wasn't right, it appears to be an accident," Denslow said. "Everybody feels like he made a mistake in handling the gun, but there doesn't seem to be any malicious intent."