Joel Thomas Ferrer (Seminole County Sheriff’s Office), David Jackson (WESH screenshot)
A 22-year-old man in Florida was arrested after he allegedly killed his aunt’s boyfriend, fatally shooting the man immediately after the two argued about the suspect’s unsafe handling of a firearm. Joel Thomas Ferrer was taken into custody Saturday morning and charged with one count of second-degree murder in the slaying of 41-year-old David Nathaniel Jackson, court documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a probable cause affidavit, officers with the Castleberry Police Department at about 11:11 p.m. on July 27 responded to a call about a shooting inside the Regency Oaks apartment complex located in the 100 block of Monarch Circle. A second 911 call came in a short while later to report shots being fired in the same area.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders entered the apartment and immediately located an unresponsive adult male — later identified as Jackson — lying on the floor who appeared to be suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to Orlando Regional Medical Center by Seminole County Fire Department medics where he was pronounced dead.
Police located the second caller, who told them he had heard about six gunshots and looked out of his bedroom window to see a man running down a stairwell towards a parking garage carrying a dark-colored backpack.
The witness who saw the suspect fleeing the scene provided authorities with an audio recording from his Ring doorbell in which commotion could be heard followed by a male voice saying, “Dave got shot by his nephew,” per the affidavit.
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In an interview with detectives, Trisha Marie Ferrer explained that she lived in the apartment with the suspect, the victim, and her four children. She explained to officers that she and Jackson were in the back bedroom of the apartment when Jackson heard “a handgun being manipulated by Joel Ferrer inside of the hallway bathroom and confronted him about the gun when he exited the bathroom.
Trisha Ferrer said she overheard Jackson and her nephew speaking “loudly” while standing in the hallway for a moment, then the two went into the dining room area.
“David [Jackson] expressed not wanting firearms in the home because of the children. David [Jackson] tried to get Joel [Ferrer] to understand him and to shake his hand to settle the dispute, but Joel would not,” the affidavit states. “David [Jackson] walked out of the apartment and stood outside the door in the 2nd story breezeway and started to smoke a Black & Mild cigar. Joel [Ferrer] then walked around David [Jackson] and walked toward a staircase, just east of the apartment building. Joel [Ferrer] then fired multiple shots toward David [Jackson], striking him several times. Joel then ran down the stairs and left the area.”
Ferrer was on the run from police for two days until he turned himself in to authorities on Saturday. He appeared before a Seminole County judge on Sunday morning who ordered him to be held without bond. He has pleaded not guilty, court records show.
Ferrer is currently scheduled to appear in court again for his arraignment on Aug. 29.
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