A Florida man who fled from police after allegedly killing a man in a home occupied by squatters was taken into custody after a routine traffic stop, according to police records.
Miami police responded to a vacant home on the city’s northeast side last Sunday where they discovered a fatal shooting victim identified as Lemont Ferguson, NBC Miami reported. in accordance.
The home is owned by Maria Escandal, a local immigration attorney, but while she was working on renovating the property, squatters allegedly moved in and took over.
“Someone broke into the house, changed the locks and stayed there as if they owned the property. We called the police, we filed a report and the police told us not to do anything, to stay off the property because they were investigating. needs to be done,” Escandal told the outlet.
From Sunday to Wednesday, police in the area investigated the shooting and searched for the culprit until a routine traffic stop for an expired license plate broke the case, NBC Miami reported. I did not get help.
The driver of the vehicle, 45-year-old Larry March, was reportedly faltering during the stop, and police found “cocaine cookies,” a knife and a gun in the vehicle.
While he was in police custody, a woman identified as March’s girlfriend told police the suspect had kidnapped her and claimed he was behind Ferguson’s murder last Sunday.
According to prosecutors, the unidentified woman told police that on Wednesday, March, she became angry that she had been texting other people, including a co-worker.
“He wants to see her phone. And then after seeing other people’s text messages, he gets agitated and starts attacking her. He’s scared for his life. Pulls out a gun, points it at her. I wave, say ‘Tell me the truth,'” a state attorney said in court explaining the charges, NBC Miami reported.
He allegedly forced her into his car and punched her repeatedly.
According to the charges, she managed to escape hours before being pulled over for an expired tag.
The girlfriend alleged that she was at the home the day Ferguson was allegedly killed in March.
He said March shot Ferguson four to five times before he fled the scene, NBC Miami reported.
Police investigated the gun recovered from March’s vehicle and said it matched the weapon used to shoot Ferguson.
March was denied bond and charged with kidnapping, battery, drug possession and second-degree murder.
