An arrest has been made in the fatal Nov. 29 shooting of 27-year-old Black Oklahoma mother Martika Ferguson.
According to the Enid News & Eagle, 30-year-old Shane Dale Perosi, who is white, has confessed to the killing.
On Dec. 2, he was booked and charged with first-degree murder, destruction of evidence and possession of a firearm after felony conviction at the Garfield County Detention Facility.
In November, the Enid Police Department responded to a woman's 911 call regarding a dead female body in an alleyway of the 700 block of West Nagel, the publication reported. Officers arrived on the scene and discovered a slain Ferguson. Detectives were called in to investigate the woman's killing.
News 9 reported that Ferguson's family, friends and coworkers are distraught by the woman's death.
Her mother, Effie Ferguson, spoke to the news channel regarding her daughter's death.
"All of my family has been calling and coming over," the grieving mother told News 9. "That kind of lets you know it's real, and it has to be coped with."
"My first thought was, 'are they going to come after us,'" she continued. "Who all are they after? What could she have done that was so awful that they would just shoot her? She wasn't an awful girl."
Effie also had to break the devastating news to her 8-year-old grandson, News 9 reported.
Posted by Martika Ferguson on Friday, September 14, 2018
"It was sad, but he knows he's got me and Papa," she continued. "She didn't deserve that. Yeah, she got into a few scuffles here and there, but she wasn't bad enough to be shot."
The department's spokesperson Cass Rains released a statement via Facebook that shed light on the police investigation and Perosi's subsequent apprehension.
"About 2 p.m. Tuesday, officers and members of the department's SWAT team served a no-knock search at 601 W. Rush. During the service of the search warrant, evidence related to the murder was found inside the residence," the statement read.
"During an interview with Perosi, he confessed he shot and killed Ferguson. Perosi said he'd done so to teach her a lesson. During his booking at Garfield County Detention Facility, Perosi again reiterated he had murdered Ferguson and said he was glad he'd done so," the statement continued.
It's unclear as to what exactly Perosi meant by wanting to teach Martika a "lesson" and whether the two knew one another.
Although the investigation is ongoing, Capt. Scott Miller praised the detectives and officers who spent over 280 working hours investigating the tragic shooting so that Martika's killer could be apprehended.
"They did a very good job, were very persistent, and conducted a non-stop investigation," Miller said. "They brought closure to the victim's family and have made our community safer with the arrest of their suspect."
Perosi had previously served jail time for assault and battery of a police officer and child abuse, according to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections website.
