Defendant in 2003 Modesto shooting of Lacy Ferguson appears in court

Boni Driskill sat quietly Tuesday as she watched the man accused in her daughter’s shooting death. She’d waited 13 years for this day.

David Aguilar is charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of Lacy Marie Ferguson. The 25-year-old mother was gunned down Aug. 24, 2003; hit by stray gunfire in an alleged gang-related drive-by shooting outside a west Modesto convenience store.

The defendant did not enter a plea Tuesday afternoon. He asked the judge for time to hire his an attorney. Aguilar, 44, formerly of Modesto, said in court that his family was working on retaining legal counsel to represent him.

Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Dawna Reeves scheduled Aguilar to return to court June 13 for a continued arraignment. He remains in custody at the county jail, and is being held without bail.

Driskill attended the hearing with about two dozen supporters. She declined to comment as she walked out of the courthouse.

Aguilar had about 10 members of his family supporting him in the courtroom including his mother, Angelina Aguilar.

The defendant’s mother said she just wants justice for her son, who called investigators seeking to question him. She said those are not the actions of someone who is guilty. “It’s all lies,” she said about the prosecution’s allegations.

Ferguson and her boyfriend, John Ritchie, had just stepped outside a Quik Stop convenience store on Paradise Road, when shots rang out from a car driving through the parking lot. Authorities say the shots were intended for another car parked there. Adrian Vega was in the other car.

Ferguson, Ritchie and Vega were all hit. Ferguson was hit in the head and died hours later at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto. Her daughter, Haleigh, was just 3 years old, when her mom died.

GANG ALLEGATIONS

Along with the murder charge, Aguilar faces two counts of attempted murder and three counts of shooting at an occupied vehicle. He also faces enhancements to his charges, alleging he committed the crimes for the benefit of the Norteño street gang and participating in a gun-related killing.

Aguilar is not charged with an enhancement that alleges he fired the gun that killed Ferguson and injured the two others. John Goold, a spokesman for the District Attorney’s Office, declined to say whether Aguilar is the suspected shooter in the killing.

Goold also declined to say whether there are any other suspects.

“That information will have to come out in court during an evidentiary hearing,” Goold said Tuesday.

Special circumstances alleged in the case make Aguilar eligible to face a capital murder charge, but prosecutors will not seek the death penalty. Goold has said Mexico will not send someone back to the United States if the defendant is expected to face the death penalty.

Aguilar was found in Mexico, arrested by authorities there and had been held in prison since 2014, pending extradition proceedings. The defendant hired an attorney in Mexico and fought extradition.

Prosecution investigators Kirk Bunch and Steve Jacobson arrested Aguilar on Thursday after an FBI agent escorted Aguilar from a Mexican prison and handed over the defendant in Northern California.

DEFENDANT’S FAMILY

After Tuesday’s hearing, Aguilar’s family said he has never been associated with gangs. They said he did not flee to Mexico to avoid arrest in this case. They said he was deported six years ago and forced to leave his family.

Amaryllis Aguilar, the defendant’s daughter, sat in the courtroom watching her father faces criminal charges. “It broke my heart, because it’s the first time I’ve seen him in six years,” she said.

Aguilar’s daughter said she feels just as bad for the victim’s family, because authorities have the wrong man in custody.

Driskill spent many years after her daughter’s death doing everything she could to keep the case in the public’s mind.

“She fought; she continually tried to talk to anyone who would listen to her,” said Donna Raley, who formed Wings of Protection with Susan Levy, mother of slain federal intern Chandra Levy.

Driskill worked closely with Wings of Protection, a Modesto-based support group that served as advocates for victims’ families, helping them work with investigators, the media and the public in the hope of solving their cases.

The group no longer exists, but its members still stay remain close. “Oh yeah, we’re a family,” Raley said.

Raley’s stepdaughter, Dena Raley-McCluskey, was buried in a shallow grave for eight years before her body was discovered and authorities arrested Russell Todd Jones. Another four years passed before Jones was convicted and sentenced for killing Raley-McCluskey.

Driskill’s time in the courthouse is just beginning, Raley said Tuesday. She said she talks to Driskill often, and was aware an arrest had been made. She said she offered Driskill some advice about the court process: “To be quiet and keep your mouth shut,” Raley said.

Testimony and arguments, when directed at the victim, could make a mother’s blood boil. Raley said anything said in response could harm the prosecution’s case.

“Lacy was innocent, she was just standing there lighting a cigarette and scratching off a lottery ticket,” Raley said. “This is just day one (in the criminal case) for Boni.”

This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 4:20 PM with the headline "Defendant in 2003 Modesto shooting of Lacy Ferguson appears in court."