| Man charged with shooting neighbor enters plea agreement
By David Hedges, Publisher
thetimesrecord.net
A man who has spent almost five years in jail after being charged with murder for the shooting death of his neighbor has entered a plea that could allow him to be released instead of being tried a third time.
Dreu Ferguson Jr., 32, pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter when he appeared before Roane Circuit Judge David Nibert Thursday.
That was the same charge Ferguson was convicted of in a trial in October 2006. That conviction was reversed by the state Supreme Court earlier this year.
Ferguson was arrested in June 2003 and charged with the murder of his neighbor, William Freas III. Police said Ferguson shot Freas in the chest while Freas, who was 29, was sitting on his front porch on Beauty Street just before noon.
Ferguson fled the scene and was arrested the next day in Indiana.
Ferguson testified at the trial and did not deny shooting Freas, but said he had no intention of killing him. He said he fired once in the air. The second time he fired his .22 rifle he shot Freas in the chest.
The two had argued previously because Ferguson believed Freas was involved with the theft of items from Ferguson's home, an allegation Freas denied. Ferguson also claimed Freas made inappropriate comments to Ferguson's wife.
Public defender Teresa Monk asked for a new trial after Nibert told jurors to disregard testimony of a psychologist who testified that Ferguson suffered from a mental illness that prevented him from forming the intent to kill.
Prosecutor Mark Sergent called two witnesses who said Ferguson was capable of forming the intent to kill Freas.
After the conviction, Ferguson was sentenced to 15 years in prison, the maximum term for voluntary manslaughter. Under that sentence, Ferguson could have been eligible for parole after five to six years.
Ferguson is now being held at the St. Marys Correctional Center.
Ferguson had actually been tried once before for the crime. That trial ended in a mistrial when a juror brought a dictionary into the jury room during deliberations.
The trials were in Mason County because of difficulty in finding a jury in Roane County, where Ferguson had already been tried and acquitted on an unrelated charge of murder involving the death of his 5-week-old son from a head injury. Ferguson was free on bond on that charge when he shot Freas.
If the pending case was tried again and Ferguson was convicted, Sergent said Ferguson could not have been sentenced for any crime more serious than the voluntary manslaughter charge from the last trial.
For that reason, Sergent said he agreed to the plea.
Voluntary manslaughter carries a determinate sentence ranging from a minimum of three years to a maximum of 15 years.
Under the plea agreement entered Thursday, Ferguson would be sentenced to 10 years. Sergent said Ferguson would already be eligible for consideration for parole.
Even under the earlier conviction that has been reversed, Sergent said family members of the victim had already received a notice of hearing from the state parole board.
Nibert will have the option of accepting or rejecting the plea when Ferguson returns to court June 13.
See SPENCER MAN MURDERED ON PORCH - Plain View Shooting Near Downtown
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