According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Ferguson was on duty as a Memphis police officer on January 5, 2021, when he kidnapped and fatally shot a man identified in federal court documents by the initials R.H. Local reporting and Shelby County court statements identified the victim as Robert Lee Howard Jr., a 30-year-old Memphis man.
The Shelby County District Attorney’s Office said Howard was reported missing by his girlfriend on January 6, 2021. Investigators later developed Ferguson as a suspect. Prosecutors said Ferguson admitted that he went to Howard’s residence, forced him into the back of a patrol car, and killed him.
This was not described as a chaotic traffic stop, a split-second decision, or a confused police encounter. Prosecutors said Ferguson used his position as an officer to carry out a personal act of violence while he was supposed to be serving the public. The patrol car itself became part of the crime.
After Howard was killed, prosecutors said Ferguson turned to Joshua M. Rogers for help covering it up. According to federal prosecutors, Ferguson and Rogers worked together to dispose of Howard’s body in the Wolf River in Memphis. Prosecutors also said they got rid of the vehicle used to transport Howard’s body by selling it to a scrap metal company.
Ferguson was originally charged at the state level with first-degree murder, especially aggravated kidnapping, tampering with evidence, abuse of a corpse, official misconduct, and official oppression. The federal case later brought civil rights, firearms, kidnapping, and obstruction charges tied to the same killing.
On December 1, 2025, the Department of Justice announced that Ferguson had been sentenced to 38 years in federal prison. DOJ said Ferguson’s guilty plea established that he kidnapped and fatally shot Howard while on duty, then conspired with Rogers to hide what happened.
Rogers was also sentenced for his role in destroying evidence. On December 18, 2025, DOJ announced that Joshua M. Rogers had been sentenced to 56 months in prison for helping Ferguson destroy evidence connected to the fatal shooting. DOJ said Rogers helped buy chains, padlocks, and cinderblocks and helped dispose of Howard’s body in the Wolf River.
The facts of this case are horrifying because the badge did not stop the crime. Prosecutors said the badge helped make the crime possible. Ferguson was not accused of simply losing control during an arrest. He was accused, and later federally sentenced, for using his authority as an on-duty police officer to abduct and kill Robert Howard, then trying to erase the evidence.
For fuckedcops.com, the Patric Ferguson case belongs in the record because it is one of the clearest examples of what happens when police power is turned into personal power. Robert Howard was not protected by the system that night. According to prosecutors, he was killed by someone wearing that system’s authority.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Justice: Former Memphis Police Department Officer Sentenced for Civil Rights, Firearms, Kidnapping, and Obstruction Charges Related to Fatal Shooting
- U.S. Department of Justice: Tennessee Man Sentenced for Aiding Memphis Police Department Officer in Destroying Evidence Related to On-Duty Fatal Shooting
- Shelby County District Attorney: Police Officer Indicted on Murder Charge
- Associated Press: Former Memphis Officer Hit With Federal Charges in On-Duty Kidnapping, Killing
- Action News 5: Former MPD Officer Convicted of Kidnapping, Murder While on Duty, Sentenced to 38 Years
