2 shot dead after car chase

Two ex-business partners are dead in what police say was a frantic car chase that became a murder-suicide.

By CHRIS TISCH, LEON M. TUCKER and ROBERT FARLEY
© St. Petersburg Times
published March 1, 2003

CLEARWATER -- Richard Dougherty thought the screech was just another wreck on Cleveland Street. He stepped outside and saw a man talking to someone in a maroon Cadillac.

All looked calm and under control. Dougherty figured two drivers were exchanging insurance information. He went inside.

He didn't see the shotgun.

[Times photo: Jim Damaske]

Pinellas sheriff's officials investigate the scene where one motorist shot another and then apparently killed himself Friday morning in Clearwater. Witnesses told officers they saw the men ramming each other's vehicles before the shootings occurred.

A block away, James Clinard was working on his truck when he, too, heard the screech about 11 a.m. Friday. Minutes later, several gunshots flushed birds from the trees. Then Clinard heard another blast.

When police and rescuers arrived minutes later, they found two battered vehicles and both drivers dead.

A maroon Cadillac had run off the road and up on a curb. Elgin Boykin, 34, was sprawled dead on Cleveland Street, a shotgun blast to his head and a full-sized, 12-gauge pump-action shotgun near his feet.

Inside the car was 63-year-old Lawrence Goodwin, dead from three shotgun wounds to the upper torso. No other gun was found.

A red Ford Explorer parked just in front of the Cadillac belonged to Boykin. The driver's side door of the vehicle was open, the interior lights on. A paper coffee cup rolled on the ground under the door.

Witnesses told police they saw the men ramming each other's vehicles as they headed west on Cleveland Street. Other motorists say they first saw Boykin ram his Explorer into the rear of Goodwin's Cadillac near Cleveland Street and Keene Road. The vehicles moved west, ramming each other along the way.

"The cars were literally running into each other," Clearwater police spokesman Wayne Shelor said. "They did it with vengeance."

Investigators say that after the Cadillac was forced off the road, Boykin got out of his truck and pumped three rounds into the driver's side window, killing Goodwin. He then turned the gun on himself, they said.

Police said the men were once business partners, and the erosion of that relationship is likely what led to the shooting Friday morning.

Police would not provide more details about the business relationship Friday, but public records show Boykin and Goodwin once co-owned a business, Lawn Groomers Inc., in Clearwater.

According to state corporate records, the business was incorporated in July 1997, but dissolved in September 1999.

Boykin once was an assistant football coach at Dunedin High School, from 1996 to 1997, according to school officials. For Boykin, it was a return to the team where he once played high school football. After transferring from Clearwater High School, Boykin became the starting tackle on a Dunedin High School team that went to the Class 5A state championship game in 1987.

Neighbors of Boykin said he shared a house at 1613 Maple Street, Clearwater, with a woman and her young son.

Goodwin lived in a duplex at 105 N Fredrica Ave. He allowed Daniel Alamo, 40, to live in the front part of his house.

"I feel like I lost a family member," Alamo said Friday afternoon. "He was like a second dad. He really cared about me."

In 1995, Goodwin wrote a book called Citizen Green: A Peaceful Revolution. The 300-page book outlines his philosophy, which encourages environmental, social and political consciousness.

Goodwin wrote in the book that he was an attorney.

"I spent about five years actually practicing law," Goodwin wrote. "Most of my life has been as a small business entrepreneur."

Goodwin went on to write about his childhood and how he was raised in Silver Grove, Ky., a small town near the Ohio River.

"He went to church, he didn't drink," Alamo said. "I don't know how something like this can happen. He didn't get into trouble."

Alamo left his house about 10 a.m. Friday and saw Goodwin's Cadillac parked in the yard. Alamo said he did not know Boykin.

"I have no idea how this could happen," he said. "If someone has problems with him, this is not the way to handle it."

Exactly what sparked the argument between Goodwin and Boykin was still a mystery Friday.

Police said detectives were working Friday night and will spend the weekend trying to find out what prompted the argument between the men.

"These guys had a business relationship and that's what we think led to this," said police spokesman Wayne Shelor. "We don't know what precipitated that, and that's part of what the detectives will be doing this weekend."

Residents of the area, just blocks from Skycrest Elementary School, were shaken by what happened.

"All I heard was a crash and a boom," said Everett Truman, who lives across the street from where the shootings took place. "Then I came to the window and saw the man lying in the street. I'm not used to that kind of stuff."

-- Times researchers Caryn Baird and Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Chris Tisch can be reached at 445-4156 or tisch@sptimes.com .

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