Florida man accused of murder in a squatters' den arrested after cops catch him with ‘cocaine cookies’ during a routine traffic stop

A Florida man who had been evading law enforcement following the alleged murder of a man in a house taken over by squatters was apprehended during a routine traffic stop, as per police reports.

Miami police were called to an unoccupied property in the northeast part of the city, where they discovered the victim of a fatal shooting identified as Lamont Ferguson, according to NBC Miami. 

The house belonged to local immigration lawyer Maria Escandell, who was renovating the property, but squatters had apparently moved in and claimed it as their own.

"Someone broke into the house, changed the locks, and acted as if they owned the property. We called the police, filed a report, and the police instructed us not to take any action but to stay away from the property while they conducted their investigation," Escandell stated.

Over the course of four days, from Sunday to Wednesday, local law enforcement investigated the shooting and searched for the suspect. It was during a routine traffic stop for an expired license plate that they made a breakthrough, as reported by NBC Miami.

The driver of the vehicle, 45-year-old Larry March, appeared nervous during the stop, and police discovered "cocaine cookies," a machete, and a firearm in the car.

While March was in police custody, a woman identified as his girlfriend informed the authorities that he had kidnapped her and claimed responsibility for the killing of Ferguson the previous Sunday.

The woman, whose identity remains undisclosed, told the police that on Wednesday, March became enraged upon discovering she had been texting other individuals, including a coworker, according to prosecutors.

"He demanded to inspect her phone, and after seeing text messages from other individuals, he became agitated and started assaulting her. She feared for her life, drew a gun, pointed it in her direction, and said, 'Tell me the truth,'" described a state attorney in court regarding the allegations, as reported by NBC Miami.

She claimed that he forced her into his vehicle and physically assaulted her. She managed to escape just hours before he was pulled over for the expired license plate, according to the allegations.

The girlfriend asserted that she was present in the house occupied by squatters on the day March allegedly killed Ferguson. She stated that March shot Ferguson four to five times before they fled the scene, according to NBC Miami.

Police examined the firearm recovered from March's vehicle and determined that it matched the weapon used in the shooting of Ferguson.

March was denied bail and is facing charges of kidnapping, battery, drug possession, and second-degree murder. 

In another news, a former lieutenant at the Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) has pleaded guilty to using excessive force on an inmate and subsequently providing false information in an official report to conceal his actions. See detailed story here.

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