Poinciana man convicted of manslaughter in son’s fatal 2023 crash
The father of an unlicensed then-15-year-old who investigators say caused a 2023 Poinciana crash that killed a grandmother and her three children was convicted last week of four counts of manslaughter.
Richard Ferguson, 68, is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday, Dec. 16 at 1:30 p.m. after a jury found him guilty Oct. 29. He faces over 30 years in prison.
Prosecutors said the father allowed his son Ri’Shard Ferguson to drive a Chevrolet Impala the night of Sept. 3, 2023. According to FHP reports the vehicle was traveling over 75 mph in the 30 mph zone on Laurel Avenue when it ran a stop sign at San Miguel Road and collided with a gray 2022 Honda HR-V. Data retrieved from the vehicle’s event recorder con med that the driver had fully depressed the accelerator in the moments leading up to the collision and never applied the brakes. Witnesses reported seeing the Impala speeding away from nearby Deerwood Park moments before the crash.
Trinidad Hernandez, 50, and her grandchildren 11-year-old Miley Cruz, 9-year-old Marven Cruz, and 1-year-old Anayari Cruz were killed in the crash. Within days of the accident, two new stop signs were installed on San Miguel Road at Laurel Avenue, making the intersection a four-way stop.
Richard was arrested in February 2025 and Ri’Shard, then 16, later turned himself in He was charged with four counts of vehicular homicide, causing a crash with serious bodily injury and driving without a driver’s license. Ri’Shard’s been remanded to juvenile custody in Orange County.
Court records show Ri’shard was arrested for much the same offense, driving without a license, on July 15, 2024, three days shy of his 16th birthday when stopped driving a silver 2000 Toyota utility vehicle after 11 p.m. Two 15-year-old and a 16-year-old were passengers, and none had a driver’s license according to the citation.
At trial, Richard Ferguson testified that he did not give Ri’Shard permission to take the car on that September night.
“I did not give my son the keys, I did not give my son permission to take off. Three witnesses said I didn’t give him the keys.” he said on the stand.
But the jury only needed part of the afternoon to return four guilty verdicts
—Ken Jackson
Man sentenced to 30 years in fatal 2024 Bay Lake Ranch shooting
An Osceola County man who shot and killed a father of three in Bay Lake Ranch in 2024 has been sentenced to 30 years in state prison.
Joshua Michael Alan Miller, 30, on Friday pleaded no contest to manslaughter with a firearm in the death of Joseph Beck, 29, and received credit for 511 days served, court records show.
Miller was arrested in May 2024 after a nearly 20-hour manhunt following the shooting outside a home on Bronco Drive. Deputies said home security footage showed Miller kicking open the passenger door of Beck’s truck, pointing a gun and striking him before a shot was fired. Beck later died from his injuries. Sheriff’s reports said Miller, who fled into nearby woods after the shooting, confessed after being taken into custody.
Investigators said the confrontation began as an argument over a pool pump. Beck, a father to three young children, had known Miller through work.
—Kristin Hurst
