DOB: 09/13/2002

Case Numbers: 2022-1174-CF

Putnam County Defendant Sentenced to Prison for Stabbing Boyfriend to Death

PALATKA – During a hearing on Thursday, defendant Tykidra Leonard was sentenced to 50 years in prison. She entered a no-contest plea in September to Second-Degree Murder with a Weapon.

In the early morning hours of May 20, 2022, the Palatka Police Department responded to a report of a stabbing at a home on South 14^th Street. Officers found Leonard kneeling over the victim, her boyfriend, in the front room.

The victim died from his injuries at the hospital.

Leonard told detectives in an interview that she thought her boyfriend was an intruder and stabbed him with a knife from the kitchen when he entered the door.

However, surveillance video showed the defendant and the victim walking in and out of the home together about 30 minutes before officers arrived at the scene.

Leonard changed her story during a second interview with detectives. She said they were arguing, and she stabbed her boyfriend after he grabbed her by the neck.

However, that story was also inconsistent with the evidence. The medical examiner found that the victim was stabbed once in the upper chest and once in the back. There were also scratches on his back and a bite mark on his forearm. Officers did not observe any significant injuries to the defendant during her initial interview.

“Domestic violence always has the potential to turn deadly,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza said about the case. “The defendant’s statement at sentencing illustrated that she refused to accept responsibility for killing her boyfriend. She will have 50 years to reflect on the damage she inflicted on our victim and his family.”

The case was investigated by the Palatka Police Department. Assistant State Attorney Mark Johnson successfully prosecuted the case for the state. The Honorable Alicia Washington presided over the case and pronounced sentence.