3 Florida men convicted of Martin Luther King Jr. Day double murder, DOJ says
A federal jury convicted three Florida men for a double murder that also left a third person injured on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Kermon Williams, 42, James Higgs Jr., 50, and Jhaphre Higgs, 35, are facing a mandatory sentence of 20 years and up to life in federal prison, according to the Department of Justice.
All three men are from St. Petersburg, where the murders took place.
Court records stated Williams ordered a hit on Tywan Jeremiah Armstrong because Williams believed he was a threat to his drug business. Williams paid Higgs Jr. and Higgs in cash and drugs. He also gave them an AR-15 rifle. On Sept. 22, 2018, both men attempted to kill Armstrong, but he survived, the DOJ reported. Williams ordered a second hit and told both men to “make the murders as public as possible to send a message on the street.”
On Jan. 21, 2019, Jhapre and James Higgs Jr. murdered Armstrong in his car. They also killed Roger Lee Ford, a passenger, and injured a third victim, the DOJ reported. The public shooting happened at a St. Petersburg gas station in front of a large crowd.
The men shot Armstrong 28 times. Ford was hit with 11 bullets. Both victims died from their injuries, the DOJ reported.
In addition to the double murder, the jury convicted all three men for drug and murder conspiracy charges and using a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
