Tampa police arrest man in fatal stabbing of friend

TAMPA — Gina Wanda Smith and Kenneth Leroy Shivers had been friends for years. At one point they had dated.

They seemed to get along well, Smith's family said. Now they are wondering what went wrong.

On Saturday night, police say, Shivers stabbed Smith, 48, in the chest, neck and arms. Paramedics brought her to Tampa General Hospital, where she died a short time later, said her daughter, Danielle Nelson.

"It was a shock to us," Nelson, 24, said. "We wouldn't ever think he would do something like that."

Shivers, 52, called the police himself, Nelson said. He admitted stabbing Smith, according to a police report, and used a knife.

Police arrested Shivers at Smith's home at 3916 E Chelsea St. on a charge of second-degree murder. He is being held in a Hillsborough County jail without bail.

On Sunday, Smith's family sat in shock on the front porch of Smith's mother's home in Tampa.

"She had a beautiful heart and was a good person," said Lensy Hardy, Smith's brother. "It's confusing because he was the same kind of gentle person as her."

They never argued, he said.

Nelson said she saw her mother every day. On Saturday, Nelson brought her son over to see Smith before he went away with his father for the weekend. She said she saw no sign of trouble between Smith and Shivers.

Shivers has a lengthy arrest record, including several convictions for burglary and grand theft. An assault conviction in 1986 landed him in prison for 11 months, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.