Former Memphis police officer accused of killing man while on duty indicted for murder

A former Memphis police officer accused of kidnapping and killing a man while on duty has been indicted on first-degree murder and other felony charges.

A former Memphis, Tennessee, police officer accused of kidnapping and killing a man while on duty was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury on first-degree murder and other felony charges. Patric Ferguson, 29, was also indicted on counts of especially aggravated kidnapping, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, official misconduct and official oppression. He is being held without bond, according to a press release from Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich. Online court records show Ferguson has a jail arraignment scheduled for Friday morning. It was unclear whether he had obtained legal representation. Ferguson was arrested earlier this year and immediately fired from the Memphis Police Department after he became a suspect in the murder of 30-year-old Robert Lee Howard Jr., who was reported missing by his girlfriend on Jan. 6. Ferguson was on duty when he allegedly drove to Howard's residence in the Frayser neighborhood in north Memphis, abducted him at gunpoint, then drove less than a half mile away and fatally shot Howard in the back of his patrol car using a personal handgun, according to Weirich and the Memphis Police Department.