Carson Zorn
•7/23/2026
The identity of a man accused of murder in St. Petersburg before being involved in an hourslong standoff on Wednesday with Florida Highway Patrol troopers and Lee County deputies has been revealed.
[image id='74ff16c6-a631-452a-90ff-2d371bf158a3' mediaId='929b0951-a5a2-4d66-8692-e5714c63a5d8' align='center' size='medium' share='true' caption='' expand='' crop='original'][/image]According to the St. Petersburg Police Department, the murder suspect has been identified as 43-year-old Ladavion King.
St. Petersburg police said officers responded to a murder at around noon on Wednesday. Officers said a 47-year-old woman, who was a city of St. Petersburg employee and mother of four, was shot while sitting inside a work vehicle.
Officers said that the murder suspect, King, and the victim were known to each other.
According to FHP, troopers received a Be On The Lookout alert regarding King, who was believed to be suicidal. FHP said they attempted a traffic stop, but the suspect was accused of fleeing.
FHP troopers pursued King, and after he failed to pull over for a traffic stop, a PIT maneuver was used to stop the truck he was driving.
[mediaosvideo align='' embedId='f7885190-2f24-43b1-a047-ad2b07f02654' mediaId='accbef8b-3b69-40b4-9e1b-6408397c83b4' size=''][/mediaosvideo]According to FHP, King then barricaded himself inside the truck on southbound I-75 near the Alico Road exit in Lee County.
[image id='7e6fe680-66f5-4887-ad27-a38dc7e18cb8' mediaId='b004a52b-cc5f-4c9b-98f7-e6d9ee74a59d' align='center' size='medium' share='true' caption='' expand='' crop='original'][/image]Video from the scene shows an intense standoff, including law enforcement firing multiple rounds into the front windshield of the truck King was barricaded in.
[mediaosvideo align='' embedId='fca82c10-a429-41d7-a0b0-1b9aa629db41' mediaId='afd5f7a4-161f-4c62-9cb4-36a5f5020ed7' size=''][/mediaosvideo][mediaosvideo align='' embedId='926d3712-fc6e-45df-9192-185409c4b421' mediaId='95ed69a0-b9b8-4b16-b374-b93fbcc18361' size=''][/mediaosvideo]After an hourslong standoff, law enforcement was able to get King out of the truck and place him under arrest.
King was taken to the hospital with serious injuries and remains in LCSO custody, St. Petersburg police said. No law enforcement was injured, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the use of control, according to troopers.
