PALATKA, Fla. — A 23-year-old woman from Palatka has been handed a 50-year prison sentence after pleading no contest last month to the murder of her boyfriend in May 2022, as announced in a statement by Florida’s Seventh Judicial Circuit.

On September 22, Tykidra Leonard submitted a no contest plea to charges of second-degree murder with a weapon, according to court documents.

The prosecution stated that on the morning of May 20, 2022, Palatka police officers were called to a reported stabbing incident at a residence on South 14th Street.

Upon arrival, officers discovered Leonard kneeling beside her boyfriend in the home’s front room, according to the prosecutors.

The release indicated that her boyfriend succumbed to his injuries at a nearby hospital.

The release states that 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 front door.

However, surveillance video showed Leonard and her boyfriend walking in and out of the home together about 30 minutes before officers arrived, the release states.

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

However, prosecutors say that story was also inconsistent with the evidence. The medical examiner found that Leonard’s boyfriend 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, according to prosecutors.

The release states that officers did not observe any significant injuries to Leonard during her initial interview.

“Domestic violence always has the potential to turn deadly,” State Attorney R.J. Larizza said in the release. “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.”