Former Memphis police officer federally indicted for 2021 murder, attempted cover-up

A former Memphis police officer was federally indicted Wednesday in connection to a 2021 kidnapping, killing and attempted cover-up, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee said in a press release.

Patric Ferguson was indicted on civil rights violations, kidnapping and weapons offenses, along with conspiring with a civilian to cover up the killing and destroying evidence.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Ferguson was on duty when he "kidnapped and shot R.H. in the head, resulting in R.H.'s death." R.H. are the initials for the victim, identified in state court documents as Robert Howard.

"Ferguson then allegedly conspired with [Joshua] Rodgers to cover up the fatal shooting by disposing of R.H.'s body in the Wolf River in Memphis," the press release read. "The indictment further alleges that Rogers disposed of the car used to transport R.H.'s body by selling the car at a scrap metal dealership."

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Ferguson was criminally charged at the state level days after the Jan. 5, 2021 shooting. He faces first-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, official misconduct and official oppression charges.

Though Ferguson was charged and later indicted, the state case has not yet been resolved. It is currently assigned to Shelby County Criminal Court Division 9, which was former Judge Melissa Boyd's courtroom. Boyd resigned in April after facing drug allegations and criminal harassment charges.

An affidavit in the state case said Ferguson had incriminating evidence on his cell phone, including searches about how to clean crime scenes and destroy evidence.

"Evidence was obtained showing Ferguson purchased cinder blocks, chains and padlocks at a hardware store which investigators later found were used by Ferguson to hide evidence," the affidavit read. "Additionally, surveillance video was obtained by investigators which captured the shooting of the victim while Ferguson was on-duty."

More: MPD officer accused of homicide had a minor disciplinary record, recently released documents say

The affidavit also said Ferguson gave up his Miranda rights to remain silent and told investigators that he went to the victim's home, encountered him outside, and forced him into the back of the vehicle.

"Ferguson then drove to a nearby location where he shot the victim while in the back of the patrol car," the affidavit read. "Ferguson then drove to a nearby location where deposited the victim before later coming back to move the body."

He also confessed to recruiting a friend to help move the body.

The affidavit says Rogers likewise gave up his Miranda rights and admitted to helping Ferguson move the body "from the first location to Rogers' residence."

Rodgers has been out on a $400,000 bail since June 2023.

Lucas Finton is a criminal justice reporter with The Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at [email protected], or (901)208-3922, and followed on X, formerly known as Twitter, @LucasFinton.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Former Memphis cop Patric Ferguson federally indicted for 2021 murder