Natasha Boykin
Natasha Boykin died of a single gunshot wound to the chest on November 11, 2009. The Jacksonville Beach Police Department ruled the death a suicide, but her mother, Angel King says it was murder. She is demanding the police reopen the investigation.
“There are so many inconsistencies in my daughter’s case,” says King. “Natasha was afraid of guns and had no idea how to use one. There is no way she would have shot herself.”
King hired well-known forensic pathologist, Dr. Jonathan Arden, to review the investigation. Arden worked on the Chandra Levy case, as well as the DeOnté Rawlings shooting. He agrees the inconsistencies in this case should be reason to reinvestigate.
“The totality of the evidence is not consistent with the official conclusion that the death of Natasha Boykin was a suicide,” Arden states in his report. “The conclusions of homicide and suicide cannot be reasonably distinguished based on the currently available evidence. In light of these inconsistencies, none of which was reconciled by the official investigations into the death of Natasha Boykin, it is my opinion that significant unanswered concerns remain as to whether she was shot and killed by another person.”
Some of the inconsistencies Arden stated in the report include the position of Boykin’s body. He says the blood staining in the crime scene photos does not match her position or location of her body. The photos also show blood smears in other rooms of the apartment. Arden says if Boykin shot herself in the chest, she would not be able to walk or move throughout the apartment.
Arden also states the police investigation report explaining how Boykin was holding the gun during the shooting is not consistent with the evidence. He says she would not be able to hold the gun barrel pointing up, as the report states. If she did shoot herself, he says she would have had to hold the gun backwards and use her thumb to pull the trigger. He adds the blood evidence on her hands is not consistent with the police’s findings.
Boykin’s body was discovered by her boyfriend. In the crime scene photos taken by the Jacksonville Beach Police Department, he is seen with patterns of tiny, dark marks on his forehead and the back of his left fingers. “These very fine, generally brown dots on the skin are most likely one of two things: either high velocity blood spatter or stippling from gun powder residue,” says Arden. He adds that these spots could indicate the boyfriend was in close proximity to Boykin’s body or the entrance wound during the time of the shooting.
King states she was advised by the police that the weapon used in Boykin’s death did not have fingerprints on it. However, crime scene photos taking by investigators show a fingerprint. “This should have been preserved and submitted for comparison and identification,” says Arden. He points out “a ballistics comparison between that gun and the recovered projectile should have been made, again to establish that that particular weapon was used to shoot Ms. Boykin.”
King believes these findings from Arden show the negligence of the Jacksonville Beach Police Department. She has started a foundation named “Truth Seekers for Justice.” She and her foundation are demanding the Jacksonville Beach Police Department reopen the Natasha Boykin death investigation.
You can read Dr. Arden’s forensic report at https://prnewschannel.com/pdf/Natasha%20Boykin%20Forensic%20Report.pdf
MEDIA CONTACT:
Angel King
Truth Seekers for Justice
Email:
SOURCE: Truth Seekers for Justice
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