Grant Preston-Former Memphis officer hit with federal charges in on-duty kidnapping, killing

2025-05-03 18:22:47source:Rubypoint Trading Centercategory:Contact

MEMPHIS,Grant Preston Tenn. (AP) — A former Memphis police officer has been charged with federal civil rights violations in the fatal shooting of a man while the officer was on duty, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Patric J. Ferguson, 32, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of kidnapping and destroying evidence in the January 2021 killing, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release. Another man who is not an officer, Joshua M. Rogers, was indicted on charges of conspiring to cover up the shooting and destroying evidence.

Prosecutors said Ferguson was on duty when he kidnapped a man and shot him in the head in his patrol car. Ferguson then worked with Rogers to dispose of the man’s body in the Wolf River in Memphis, prosecutors said. Rogers got rid of the car used to transport the man’s body by selling the car at a scrap metal dealership, prosecutors said.

The U.S. attorney’s office identified the man who was shot only as R.H. However, Ferguson already has been charged in state court with first-degree murder, kidnapping, abuse of a corpse, official misconduct and other charges in the death of Robert Howard. The circumstances of both cases are the same.

READ MORE District attorney says Memphis police officer may have been killed by friendly fireJury convicts Memphis, Tennessee, man of raping a woman a year before jogger’s killingPolice officers’ trial on civil rights charges in Tyre Nichols death to stay in Memphis, judge says

Rogers also has been charged in state court with evidence tampering, abuse of a corpse and being an accessory after the killing.

Ferguson and Rogers have been out of custody on bond on the state charges, but it was not immediately clear late Wednesday if they had been arrested on the federal charges.

Ferguson’s lawyer, William Massey, said the federal indictment was expected, but he did not comment further. Rogers’ lawyer in the state case did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

More:Contact

Recommend

Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates

Get ready for phase two.Apple's latest operating system update is available today for iPhone, iPad,

Measures to legalize medical marijuana in Nebraska can appear on November ballot, official says

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A group seeking to legalize marijuana for medical use in Nebraska has gathered en

When are the 2024 MTV VMAs? Date, time, performers and how to vote for your faves

MTV Video Music Awards season is officially upon us, with the stage set for multiple star-studded pe