Justin "BarberBoy" Boykin July 2025 Cover Story

Mobile Alabama’s modern-day Book of Job

Justin “BarberBoy” Boykin isn’t just a name known in his city — he’s a father, a fighter, and a man who’s been through a storm most couldn’t imagine. At just 35 years old, he’s the proud father of ten children — seven of them biological, including three boys and seven girls. For years, Justin lived what many would call the American dream: a beautiful family, a thriving business, and the cars to match. But then came 2023 and 2024 — two years that would test his faith, his strength, and his will to keep going.

From Tragedy to Testimony

In 2024, his marriage of eight years ended when his wife left on Easter Sunday. Still reeling from the emotional blow, Justin suffered a near-fatal car accident after falling asleep behind the wheel of his BMW. Miraculously, he walked away from the wreck — only to crash again months later, this time on Christmas night 2024. What some saw as a cry for help after he’d posted emotionally online, Justin says was simply a man overwhelmed, not suicidal. “I would never take my own life,” he says. “I’m worth more alive. I know I’m loved. I was just going through trials and tribulations.”

Faith and Fatherhood

Through the heartbreak, Justin leaned into faith and fatherhood. He became a full-time single dad to his daughter Kaitlyn, one of his 15-year-old twins, while her sister Kennadi remained in Atlanta with their mother. “It felt like that old show One on One,” Justin reflects. “Just me and her, figuring it all out.”

But the worst was yet to come

Justin received a devastating call that his son, Kam, had been shot eight times. Kam would survive over 30 surgeries, a miracle in itself. But as Justin held vigil by his son’s side, tragedy struck again. His vibrant daughter Mikinzie was killed in a fatal ATV accident just days later, on May 11, 2024 — the same hospital, the same season. “They were my most outgoing kids,” Justin says. “Always making videos, always together.”

Kam passed away six months later in December

In under two years, Justin lost two children, his marriage, his cars, and even his dogs. But not once did he fold. As a small business owner, too many families depended on him. As a father, his surviving children needed his strength. And as a believer, his faith wouldn’t let him quit.

“The world laughed when I cried publicly,” he says. “But I didn’t laugh back. I prayed. I’ve been there.”

In an unexpected, yet deeply meaningful turn of events, Justin and his wife found their way back to one another. Time, prayer, and shared grief brought them to a place of reconciliation and renewed commitment. Their family, once fractured, is healing. “Getting my wife and family back — that’s nothing but God,” he says. “We’re still walking through the pain, but we’re walking it together.

Today, Justin’s story is one of grit, grace, and God. He continues to build, parent, and serve with a heart full of pain, but a spirit unbroken. And when asked how he made it through?

His answer is simple.

“G O D.”