JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The video with this story is from a previous report.
A man convicted of murdering and dismembering a 16-year-old boy in Nassau County pleaded guilty today to three counts of possessing at least 10 images depicting child sexual exploitation. As part of a plea deal, the state agreed to drop 22 identical charges. Ronnie Hyde was sentenced to seven years in prison for each count, which he will serve concurrent with his life sentence for murder. He will also be required to register as a sex offender.
Hyde, 67, was convicted last year of first-degree murder in the 1994 death of Fred Laster. The teen’s headless, legless, headless torso later was discovered behind a gas station Dumpster in Lake City, but wasn’t identified until 2015, after family submitted DNA samples for comparison.
Family had always believed Hyde was involved in Laster’s disappearance. Hyde was the last person to see the teen alive, and family suspected he was sexually abusing the boy, though that testimony was not allowed at trial. The case remained unsolved until Hyde’s arrest in 2017, when police raided his Jacksonville Beach home. In that search, they allegedly discovered hundreds of sexual images of children amid a hoarder’s landscape of filth. Detectives testified the home was so foul they had to process evidence outside. The home was later demolished.
At his March trial, Hyde took the stand in his own defense, denying he ever harmed Laster. He denied knowing how items from his own home, including knives, flower shaped bathtub appliques and clothes with his DNA were found at the crime scene.
When asked about the pictures of his squalid home, he chuckled and said, "I'm a bit embarrassed about that. If I knew you all were coming over, I would've cleaned up a bit."
Hyde is currently appealing his murder conviction.