Stabbing At Largo Park Leads To 2 Arrests

LARGO, FL — A 26-year-old Largo woman stands accused of trying to kill a man at Walsingham Park Saturday night. Her boyfriend faces charges for attempting to help her cover up the crime.

According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, its deputies were called to the parking lot near the boat ramp at the 12615 102nd Ave. park around 6 p.m. Saturday. Patrol officers told deputies they had a trauma alert at the park related to a stabbing.

Witnesses told detectives “they heard the victim, identified as 21-year-old Richard Richardson, scream he had been stabbed, and then saw him crawl from the front passenger seat across the driver’s seat and out of the driver’s side door” of a car, an email from the sheriff’s office said. Those witnesses also told detectives the car, driven by a female, backed out of the parking space and fled “at a high speed south through the park.”

The witnesses called 911 and tried to help Richardson, who had an upper chest stab wound, the sheriff’s office noted. While Richardson was taken to Bayfront Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Through the course of its investigation, the sheriff’s office tracked down Erin Jackson and her boyfriend Kenneth T. Hoover, 32, the email noted. Both reported to the sheriff’s office headquarters in Largo to be interviewed in connection with the crime.

“Detectives say Jackson admitted to the crime,” the email said. “She told detectives she had known Richardson for approximately one year and that he was her source for illegal drugs.”

Detectives said Jackson picked up Richardson at Poor Bob’s convenience store Saturday evening and the two drove to the park. Once there, Jackson was supposed to purchase drugs from Richardson, the email said, but the two ended up in a fight instead. Jackson, the email noted, used a pocket knife to stab Richardson who “was not armed and did not make any threatening statements to her."

Hoover told detectives Jackson told him she had been attacked. “He admitted to assisting Jackson with a change of clothes and helping her clean out the vehicle,” the email said.

Jackson was charged with attempted second degree murder. Hoover was charged for being an accessory after the fact to attempted first degree murder.

Richardson’s condition as of Monday was not shared by the sheriff’s office.

Booking photos courtesy of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office

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