St. Pete Man Arrested After Showing Off Dead Body To Neighbors

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – A St. Petersburg man has now been charged with second-degree murder after bragging to neighbors how dangerous he is and showing them the body of a dead woman as proof.

Police say they recovered the body of 29-year-old Cheyenne Snyder from a plastic storage box in a storage area attached to a house at 524 16th Ave. S.

Neighbors told St. Pete Police on Monday, April 30, that Angelo Dante Beckford, 40, had been bragging, showing them guns in his possession and then proving how violent he is by showing them Snyder’s body (see related story).

Beckford and Snyder had known one another about a week. The house on 16th Avenue South belonged to Beckford’s mother, who died in January. Since then, the home had become a flophouse for area drug addicts, including Snyder.

Beckford told police that he and Snyder got into a fight Sunday night over a mess she’d made in the house and he ended up shooting and killing her.

When police arrived at the home after neighbors reported the body, Beckford was gone. They found him a short distance away. He apparently had gone out to purchase crack cocaine, which police found in his possession.

St. Petersburg Police Maj. Shannon Halsted said Beckford was sentenced for armed robbery in 2008 and released in 2016. He was imprisoned again a short time later for violating probation and had just been released on April 1.

Halsted commended the neighbors for coming forward with the information on Beckford.

“The residents were instrumental in bringing justice to Cheyenne,” she said.

A mother of two children from Galion, Ohio, Snyder apparently struggled with drug addiction issues.

Police are still searching for the weapons Beckford reportedly showed neighbors.

Image via St. Pete Police