Jury acquits man accused of masterminding Panama City Beach homicide in 2019

PANAMA CITY — A Bay County 14th Judicial Circuit Court jury deliberated two hours Thursday evening before acquitting the man accused of being the "mastermind" behind a 2019 armed robbery gone awry.

The seven-man, four-woman jury found Jorge Perez not guilty of first-degree felony murder and attempted armed robbery in the Dec. 29, 2019, death of Edward Ross of Panama City Beach.

"I feel great, great I made it home," Perez told news media outside the courthouse. "And for future reference, to everybody out there, keep fighting for your case because I know there's a lot of people that's falsely imprisoned. ... Please don't ever stop fighting for y'all's cases ... I been false imprisoned for 30 months and now I get to go home."

His mother, Madeline Peters, said, "It's been two, almost three years that have went by and I am just so happy to walk out of this courthouse with my son in my arms today."

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In closing arguments, Chief Prosecutor Mark Graham called Perez the "puppet master" who orchestrated the armed robbery using a group of mostly teenagers, one of whom he supplied with a gun. The failed plan ended in Ross' death as Perez sat in the back seat of a BMW driven by a 16-year-old boy, prosecutors said.

Graham argued that the law doesn't require Perez to have fired a weapon. The law for a conviction on first-degree felony murder does not mean the murder was premeditated. It includes verbiage that the accused did "incite, cause, encourage, assist or advise the other person."

"In this case, he literally put the gun in the hand of the murderer," Graham said.

Perez denied giving anyone a gun and, he testified, "I wasn't there at all."

The 22-year-old had taken the stand in his own defense, telling the jury that he wasn't on the Beach when three young gunmen forced their way into Ross' home and opened fire.

Perez testified earlier Thursday that he never touched the gun. He claimed he was only in the area trying to chase down his missing cellphone and charger, which he said had been taken by one of the gunmen, a longtime friend. He said he retrieved his phone the next day.

Rusty Shepard, one of Perez's lawyers, pointed out that no fingerprints or DNA link Perez to the crime. Shepard said his client "has been waiting for 846 days for his day in court."

He also suggested that the three witnesses presented by the prosecution were not the most savory characters.

"Would I love to call Mother Teresa as a witness? Absolutely," said Prosecutor Frank Sullivan. "These are his friends, his followers and the people he chose. Their testimony corroborates one another."

Two of the four allegedly recruited by Perez testified Wednesday that Perez told them he had robbed Ross before, provided details about the interior of Ross' home and ordered the group to check the paint cans and overturn sofas to find drugs and money.

One of the gunmen, who has since been convicted, testified Wednesday that Perez asked them to meet up to r rob a drug dealer, claimed to have done it before and then spelled out the plan before waiting in the nearby BMW driven by the 16-year-old boy, who also was convicted for his role in the killing.

The boy, now 18, also testified against Perez on Wednesday.

Clara Lamson, identified as Perez's former girlfriend, also testified, telling the jury that Perez had given her gun to one of the boys and that, after it was used to kill Ross, Perez tried to give it back.

She also said that he had asked her a week earlier to set up a similar home invasion robbery for drugs and money. She was convicted for her role in that robbery.

Defense attorneys suggested that Lamson and the other two young men were only testifying to get reduced prison time for their crimes.

On Thursday morning, jurors heard from Sgt. Matthew Cutcher, who was the crime scene investigator for the Bay County Sheriff's Office; Elizabeth Richey of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, who did the scientific analysis determining which bullet came from which gun; and from Lindsey Miller, the former Bay County Sheriff's Office deputy who traced the cellphone pings from the calls Perez and the young men placed. Miller now is an Ohio Attorney General's Office investigator.

Medical Examiner Dr. Jay Radtke also testified, telling jurors that Ross had suffered at least five gunshot wounds. He was shot in his stomach, thigh, hand and back, He suffered serious wounds to his spleen, kidney and abdominal aorta.

Perez testified last.

The jury heard closing arguments by the prosecution and the defense, and then Judge Shonna Young Gay charged the jury.

Five Bay County Sheriff's Office deputies stood in the spectator's section of the courtroom, which was filled with Perez's friends and family, as the jury returned with the verdict.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Bay County homicide suspect Jorge Perez acquitted in 2019 slaying