LaFountain making best of second chance at life

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Floyd LaFountain was sentenced to life in prison as a teen for his involvement in a home invasion and robbery that turned deadly.

He wasn't the shooter, but at 15-years-old, he said goodbye to the outside world forever, so he thought. 

But a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the sentencing of juvenile offenders allowed inmates like LaFountain a chance at parole. And in March, he got it.

Now you'll find him working under the hood of a car, six days a week.

"Which is a blessing, also," LaFountain said.

He will be spending his first Thanksgiving in 22 years as a free man.

Through Abe Brown Ministries, which helps former inmates get back on track, Lafountain was able to get his first job at Clarke Automotive System in Brandon.

Owner Bob Clarke remembers when LaFountain first started, he rode his bike to work every day.

One day Clarke offered him a ride home on a stormy night.

"He said, 'No. Do you know how wonderful it is to feel the rain?'" Clarke recalled.

Along with a new job, LaFountain just got his very first driver's license. He says he still remembered how to drive.

"Yeah, my dad used to let us drive a lot when I was a kid," said LaFountain.

And at church, he found love and is now engaged.

His fiancee teases him about one old habit he's still trying to shake.

"I still eat real fast. In prison, you only had a small amount of time to eat and she'll say, You're not in prison anymore,'" says a smiling LaFountain.

Because he knows not everyone gets the chance to hit the reset button on life, he says, "I'm grateful for second chances."