2 arrested in shooting that injured woman at St. Petersburg restaurant

Police on Thursday arrested two men in connection to a shooting that injured a woman at a St. Petersburg restaurant two days earlier.

The shooting happened about 3 a.m. Tuesday at Salem’s Fresh Eats, 1701 34th St. S. A woman sitting in a parked car in front of the restaurant was struck by gunfire, according to the St. Petersburg Police Department.

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Johnathon Thelonius Evans, 21, of St. Petersburg was arrested on a charge of attempted second-degree murder.

Ira Jenkins, 23, faces charges of being a principal to second-degree murder and violation of probation.

According to heavily redacted arrest affidavits released by police, the woman was sitting in the passenger side of a vehicle when a gray or silver BMW pulled up in front of the restaurant nearby, and “multiple occupants” began firing from the front and rear passenger side. The woman was shot in the neck and right arm.

The woman remained hospitalized Friday in stable condition, police said.

Both men were being held without bond Friday in the Pinellas County Jail.

At the time of his arrest, Evans was out on bail for charges stemming from a police pursuit two years earlier that ended in a man’s death, court records show.

According to a court document, Evans fled from an attempted traffic stop by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper on U.S. 19 in Clearwater on Sept. 28, 2024. Driving south in a Toyota Camry, Evans reached speeds of more than 100 mph and at times drove on the wrong side of the road, a warrant affidavit states.

At the intersection with 38th Avenue North in St. Petersburg, Evans ran a red light and crashed into a pickup truck and box truck, the document states.

A man riding in the front seat of the Camry, 18-year-old Kortae Miller, was killed. Two other passengers in the Camry were injured.

The Highway Patrol obtained a warrant for Evans’ arrest in November 2025 on charges of third-degree murder, fleeing to elude law enforcement, driving without a valid license and reckless driving resulting in injury or property damage. At the time the warrant was issued, one of the other passengers in the Camry was “paralyzed in all four limbs” as a result of the crash.

Evans was released from jail in March after posting bail totaling $206,000, records show. He has pleaded not guilty in that case, and a status hearing is set for Thursday.

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