Steven Robert Yinger: Man sentenced to life in prison for killing LGBTQ advocate and dumping his body

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

MIAMI, FLORIDA: On Friday, December 16, Steven Robert Yinger, 38, was given a life sentence for killing 54-year-old LGBTQ activist Jorge Diaz-Johnston and disposing of his body in a Jackson County landfill in January 2022.

As per authorities, the victim was strangled, and his body was wrapped in bed sheets before he was dumped into a trash bin. 

The 12-person Leon County jury found Yinger, who was a roommate of the victim, guilty of first-degree murder, tampering with tangible evidence, grand theft of a car, grand theft, and unlawful use of personal identity information. He received his sentence right away. 

Jorge Diaz-Johnston met Steven Robert Yinger in an alcohol rehabilitation program

Attending the three-day trial, Don Diaz-Johnston, Jorge's husband, said, "What Jorge did was genuine Christian love to try to give this man a leg up and an opportunity. And Jorge knew that level of kindness and generosity can thaw the coldest of hearts. But the truth is it can’t turn the blackest of hearts," as per the Tallahassee Democrat. 

According to the publication, Assistant State Attorney Adrian Mood told the jury that Yinger treated the victim "like a piece of garbage," showing the jury the place where the victim's body was found.

Having said that, Yinger's lawyer claimed that his DNA was not discovered at the crime scene, according to WCTV.

Notably, the victim and his spouse were among seven couples who sued Florida in 2014 for prohibiting same-sex marriage, as Law&Crime previously reported. A circuit judge ruled in their favor in 2015

In a historic decision in Obergefell v Hodges, the US Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal. Moreover, the victim was the brother of the former mayor of Miami, Manny Diaz.

As per Don, he and Jorge had separated when the victim, known to help people in recovery, met Yinger in an alcohol rehabilitation program and allowed him to move into his residence on Alachua Avenue in October 2021. 

At that point, Yinger was freshly out of prison after he was given a three-year prison sentence in 2019 for grand theft, petit theft, and using an anti-shoplifting device. 

Jorge Diaz-Johnston was trying to remove Steven Robert Yinger from his home before he was murdered

The victim's spouse, Don, noted, "Jorge didn’t charge him rent, never had expectations, until he could get a job and support himself, and that’s who Jorge was," as per Law&Crime. 

However, a witness told investigators that the victim was apparently trying to get rid of Yinger because he was "allowing a friend (who is addicted to the street drug methamphetamine)" to frequent the house, according to an affidavit for a search warrant.

Don also noted that Yinger gave disparate accounts of Jorge's disappearance to friends and family. Moreover, the authorities claimed to have proof that the suspect had traveled to dispose of Jorge's body.

Following Jorge's disappearance, a traffic camera captured the victim's car moving west through Blountstown, Calhoun County, Florida. After looking through social media, it was discovered that on January 7, 2022, Yinger shared pictures of himself in Panama City Beach, Bay County, Florida.

The route matched his westward travel through Florida's panhandle in the days preceding the discovery of Jorge's body in the landfill.  

In April 2022, the convict was indicted by a grand jury who believed that Yinger strangled and killed Jorge between January 3 and 5.