The murder case against a man charged with killing a Wal-Mart loss prevention officer will move forward, after a Gwinnett County magistrate ruled Tuesday there is enough to evidence to bind it over to Superior Court.
During the preliminary hearing for suspect Boaz Fordyce, Lilburn Police Det. Cody Belcher testified surveillance video from the store shows victim J.D. Ferguson approach Fordyce from behind as he attempted to leave the store with three televisions.
No gun is visible. But he says Fordyce can be seen reaching around the back of his waist and then Ferguson falls to the ground, clearly bleeding.
Belcher says they were able to identify Fordyce as the suspect through information gathered by a confidential informant from the man's girlfriend.
"Ms. Murphy stated that her boyfriend told her he was attempting to shoplift televisions from the Lilburn Wal-Mart and that he got into a fight with the Walmart loss prevention employee," he testified.
Belcher says police confiscated a gun from a Doraville pawn shop that Fordyce had pawned following the shooting. He was arrested when he returned to the shop in an attempt to buy it back.
A box for the weapon as well as ammunition used to kill Ferguson were found in the trunk of the suspect's burgundy Saturn -- the same car seen leaving the Walmart following the shooting. Also inside was the same clothing seen worn by the suspect on the surveillance video.
Belcher also testified that a car dealer informed the department that Fordyce had attempted to trade in the vehicle after the shooting, but he did not have the down payment money.
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