Miami man who fatally shot Daytona motorcyclist in driving aggression incident sentenced to 20 years in prison

A Miami man who fatally shot a motorcyclist in Daytona Beach in a driving rage incident two years ago will spend the next two decades in prison, court documents Thursday show.

Ricardo Allen Gibbs, 37, was initially charged with first-degree intentional murder when he was arrested in September 2022 for the shooting death of 25-year-old Tomas Lee Bouknight. Documents filed in open court Thursday show the murder charge was changed to manslaughter with a firearm.

Gibbs pleaded no contest to the manslaughter charge.

Gibbs, who was free on $100,000 bail, was rearrested after being sentenced to 20 years in a Florida Department of Corrections prison, according to documents filed in open court.

Daytona Beach Police said Gibbs shot Bouknight during a road rage incident in the 900 block of Vine Street in Daytona Beach on September 24, 2022.

His police report states that Gibbs told police that Bouknight cut him off at an intersection at the corner of Brentwood Drive and Vine Street, then drove north on Vine Street and gave him the middle finger as he sped past.

Gibbs said he was also driving north on Vine Street and stopped Bouknight in the middle of the road. He told police that as he passed Bouknight, the victim yelled at him and lifted up his shirt to show a gun, the report said.

Gibbs said he then reached for his licensed firearm on his belt when he heard gunshots and fired at the victim from the driver's side window of his car, the police report said.

But a witness saw Gibbs argue with Bouknight and then shoot the motorcyclist, investigators said.

A surveillance recording from the Yvonne Scarlett Golden Cultural and Education Center at 1000 Vine Street confirmed the witness's statement, police said.

Daytona Beach police reviewed video footage that showed Gibbs speeding past Bouknight's motorcycle while heading north on Vine Street.

Gibbs then stopped on the road and a few seconds later Bouknight fell off his motorcycle, as the footage shows.

“Although the footage was taken from a distance, it does not appear that the victim drew a firearm and no muzzle flash is visible,” investigators wrote in their report.

This article originally appeared in the Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida man gets 20 years in prison for shooting Daytona motorcyclist