Tampa community leaders, friends of killed DJ demand shooter’s identity

More than a dozen community leaders and friends of a professional DJ who was fatally shot in Ybor City on Friday night are calling for the Tampa Police Department to publicly release the shooter’s name.

Dedrick Sykes, whose stage name was “DJ ShyGuy,” died after a man shot him at an intersection after the men got into an argument, according to the Tampa Police Department.

Elvis Piggott, a pastor and former City Council candidate, spoke at a news conference Monday evening outside Tampa Police Department headquarters. He said the shooter’s name should be released because he poses a potential threat to the public.

“We’re not here asking for the police investigation,” said Piggott, who was arrested in October after he was accused of pulling a gun at a Tampa city council forum. “We’re asking for the name of the shooter who took his life. That should not be difficult.”

Piggott described Sykes, who had worked as a DJ at 7th and Grove for more than six years, as a man who “spends his life making others have a good time.”

Ashley Gooden, a friend of Sykes, said he had worked as a DJ for her family for more than eight years. He was mild-mannered and calm, she said, and she had never heard him raise his voice at anyone.

“Everybody loves him,” she said. “His nickname was ‘ShyGuy’ for a reason, so it’s not adding up. He’s not an angry Black man.”

Gooden said she was shocked when she heard that Sykes had been killed and couldn’t imagine him getting into a violent argument on the road.

“What could he have said or done to make someone shoot him and take his life?” she said. “It doesn’t match the person that we know him to be, and not just me and the people standing here, but our entire community. It’s not adding up.”

The Tampa Police Department said it would not release the name of the shooter to “ensure the integrity of the investigation.” In a statement Monday morning, the department urged people to “avoid sharing unverified or inaccurate information online.”

Police confirmed Monday that the shooter “was not a current on-duty, off-duty, or retired Tampa Police officer, or other local law enforcement officer.” The department did not immediately respond to a request for additional comment Tuesday morning from the Tampa Bay Times.