JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville man has been arrested in connection with a 2024 hit-and-run crash that killed a local beauty supply store owner after a shoplifting incident at her business.
Darrell Beauford, 47, was arrested Wednesday and charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death, a first-degree felony, and driving while his license was suspended — a third or subsequent violation, a third-degree felony.
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The incident began Dec. 6, 2024, at a Beauty Max on Atlantic Blvd. in the Kernan Village shopping plaza, when officers responded to a report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle.
The victim, Ilson Kim, 6Family of woman killed while trying to stop shoplifters says everything she accomplished was ‘through sheer grit’5, the store’s owner, was taken to the hospital, where she later died from her injuries.
According to the arrest report, two suspects — later identified as David Pulliam and Tashina Dobbins — entered the store and spent approximately 19 minutes inside before Pulliam ran out with five wigs valued at $289. Kim chased after Pulliam when he fled the store.
The suspect vehicle — a black 2017 Chevrolet Equinox — was parked directly in front of the business in a disabled parking spot. Surveillance video from an adjacent Walmart showed the car parked at the location just before the incident.
Investigation unfolds
Investigators from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office Homicide Unit were called to the scene following Kim’s death. Tips submitted to First Coast Crime Stoppers in the days after the incident helped identify Dobbins, Pulliam and Karron Steadman-Jones as persons of interest.
A review of Lowe’s surveillance video from Dec. 5, 2024 — one day before the fatal crash — showed a person identified as Steadman-Jones driving the suspect vehicle to the store and walking past all points of sale with a leaf blower without paying.
Dobbins and Steadman-Jones were interviewed at JSO’s Police Memorial Building on Dec. 21, 2024. Dobbins said she walked past Kim after she saw her lying on the ground and did not render aid. She provided investigators with a phone number she said belonged to the driver of the vehicle — a number linked to the nickname “City” and “Unc” in her contact list.
Pulliam was interviewed on April 10, 2025. He admitted he ran out of the store with the wigs and got into the vehicle. He said he later learned from Dobbins that the driver had “ran over that lady.”
Beauford identified
On Jan. 20, 2026, a subpoena to the messaging app TextNow — using the phone number Dobbins provided — identified Beauford as the driver. He was designated a person of interest three days later.
On July 8, 2026, patrol officers stopped Beauford during a traffic stop and transported him to JSO’s Police Memorial Building for an interview. After initially distancing himself from the incident, he admitted to being in the vehicle and confirmed he was behind the wheel when Kim was struck.
“When the victim ran out of the business, she approached the driver’s side door,” the arrest report states. Beauford told investigators he pushed her away and she fell, then shifted the vehicle into reverse and backed out of the parking space. He initially said he was unaware he had hit anything but later acknowledged his front tire made contact with something.
Surveillance video shows Kim on the ground with bystanders coming to her aid as Beauford drove away and Dobbins walked past the fallen victim without stopping to help.
According to the arrest report, Beauford had at least nine prior driving while license suspended incidents dating back to 2004. At the time of the December 2024 crash, his license had been suspended for failure to pay child support.