Corrections Officer's Murder Suspect Had Criminal Past
MIAMI (CBS4) - A 22-year-old man accused of killing a state corrections officer and her young son had a criminal past.
Records reveal Henry Anthon Ferguson was first arrested at the age of 19 when police say he burglarized a home in Miami Gardens on July 2, 2008. He was also charged with resisting arrest without violence. For those charges, he spent 284 days in jail, the state attorney's office reported.
Ferguson had been on probation for possessing a firearm and now faces more serious charges. Ferguson faces two counts of first-degree murder and four counts of second-degree murder for the shooting deaths of a mother and her young son.
Ferguson was denied bond during a bond court appearance on Wednesday. The exact details of Ferguson's involvement in the shooting are unknown because a judge sealed the arrest warrant and arrest affidavit.
Ferguson's arrest comes two weeks after the December 14th shooting at 630 NW 73rd Street in the Victory Homes housing project.
According to Miami police, there were six people in home at the time of the shooting. Ciara Lee, 24, and her two-year old son Devon Franklin died in a hail of bullets. Lee's uncle, 49-year old Tony Lee, was shot in the leg. He was taken to the Ryder Trauma Center where he was treated and released.
That night hundreds of family members, friends and members of the community gathered outside the projects to pray and march.
At the time, Ciara's father Derek Johnson said, "My grandson didn't even have a chance, my daughter- she was just starting. She was just starting to live."
At the time, Miami police held a press conference and said that the mother and son were not the intended targets of the attack. Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito said the shooting may have been drug-related based on the type of weapons used.
Lee would have celebrated her one year anniversary with the state's Department of Corrections in mid-December, according to department spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger. Lee was a dormitory officer at the South Florida Reception Center on N.W. 41st Street.
