St. Petersburg Police continue to investigate after being called to the Kay Food Store located at 1421 22nd Street South.
Police responded to the scene at approximately 3:36 a.m. on Thursday, January 28, 2021.
A male, identified as 40 year-old Demond Tyrone Boykins, was located in front of the Food Store suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to Bayfront Health St. Petersburg in critical condition with a life-threatening injury. An update, later in the afternoon, confirmed that that Boykins died from his injuries.
Detectives initially suspected and treated this incident as a homicide.
After examining video of the shooting that took Demond T. Boykins life, detectives now believe that he accidentally shot himself.
Video shows Boykins, stumbling and falling in the parking lot. As he attempted to stand up, his bag fell and hit the pavement. A gun that was inside the bag discharged a bullet. The bullet exited the bag and struck Boykins in the head.
The investigation into the shooting is still ongoing as detectives are awaiting information from the medical examiner and ballistics results from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
Attached are photos of the gun and the bag. A rod was placed in the barrel of the gun to show the bullet’s trajectory.