Bradenton murder trial to begin after pregnant woman's family waits for 7 years for justice
BRADENTON -- Waiting for justice over the past seven years since her daughter and unborn grandchild were killed has been a long, hard journey, Susan Moore says.
It was in the early morning hours of July 12, 2009, when Moore was almost asleep in the DeSoto Square apartment she shared with her two daughters and one of their boyfriends when a loud boom signaled the violence to come.
She shouted at the sound of as many as three men kicking open their front door. The men immediately began spraying the apartment with bullets. By the time she reached her doorway, Moore said, the men were already inside. She stood next to an entertainment center just outside her door, watching little flashes of fire and hearing what sounded like firecrackers.
In the dim illumination from a night light, Moore said she saw two men, one taller than the other and both wearing dark clothing. Frozen in fear, Moore stood as her younger daughter, Brittany Johnson, ran around her to go check on her sister, Crystal, who was six-months pregnant.
"Mama, Crystal's been hit!" Moore said Brittany shrieked. "What do you mean?" she responded. Brittany said, "She's been shot."
Crystal Johnson died shortly after at Manatee Memorial Hospital. Her baby, Lariah Faith Funsch, although premature, was delivered through an emergency C-section but died eight hours later at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.
On Monday, jury selection will begin in the retrial of Everrick Houston, charged with being one of the men responsible for the shooting that killed Johnson and her baby. Houston, 34, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and armed robbery.
If convicted, Houston fac
es life in prison. The state is not seeking the death penalty.
Circuit Judge Deno Economou ruled Friday morning to allow testimony of a drug deal and the related conversation less than an hour before the fatal shooting.
"Mr. (Donald) Zes says that on the night in question ... he has the money to purchase drugs so he calls Mr. Houston who he's dealt with in the past," Assistant State Attorney Art Brown said in court. "Mr. Houston tells him 'I'm over at the DeSoto Square apartments' which is where the homicide occurred."
Evidence of the cocaine transaction will be presented through the testimony of Zes and former Bradenton police detective Robert Cubas, who later arrested Zes.
Brown also argued he should be allowed to introduce testimony that Houston had sold Zes drugs many times to establish why Houston would tell him about the robbery, but court-appointed defense attorney Jenna Finkelstein argued the time frame was too broad.
In November 2014, a judge declared a mistrial when the jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict.
"I am looking forward to getting this over with," Moore said Friday. "It's been terrible."
Gregory "Kush" Kennon, of Bradenton, was convicted of identical charges in 2012 and is serving a life sentence in a Florida prison. Detectives were able to match drops of blood found near the scene to a sample of Kennon's DNA obtained by the Bradenton Police Department. The lead detective in the case, Jeff Bliss, also received numerous tips that Kennon had been involved in the fatal shooting and that he had been shot.
Pain not easier with time
Moore no longer believes it when people say the pain will get easier with time.
"You just get used to it," Moore said. "There's not a night or day that goes by that I don't have a prayer for my daughter."
Adding to the heartache of losing her daughter, Moore still mourns the loss of the granddaughter she never got to know.
"I do believe this time his luck ran out. I think this time we have enough evidence," Moore said of Houston. "We want justice."
Houston was also taken to the hospital that morning with a gunshot wound.
During the 2014 trial, Brown argued that Houston had to have been shot when Crystal Johnson's boyfriend and the father of her baby, Lawrence Funsch, shot back at the intruders. A trail of blood found near the crime scene was matched to Houston's DNA.
At trial, Houston's defense was that he had dropped off his girlfriend's car at his cousin's mechanic shop and had walked to the DeSoto apartments to see another woman when he was struck by a stray bullet. He testified that he did not recall what he told detectives during his first recorded interview while he was hospitalized.
In that interview, Houston told detectives that a car pulled up as he was walking from his cousin's house to his brother's house, a "Mexican" man with a shotgun fired once at him, and the car drove off. The audio-recorded interview was played during the trial. Expert witnesses testified that Houston did not have any pellets in his body, consistent with a shotgun wound.
Charges were first filed against Houston in 2009 but were then dropped about a week before the case was set to go to trial when a judge ruled DNA evidence collected from Houston's bloodied clothes in the hospital was not legally obtained. Charges were refiled in 2013 after investigators were able to legally obtain a DNA sample from Houston when he went to prison on unrelated charges.
Defendant's long rap sheet
Houston is a twice-convicted felon. His arrest history includes charges of armed robbery, domestic battery, domestic aggravated battery, aggravated assault with a motor vehicle, dealing in stolen property, motor vehicle theft and possession of a controlled substance.
The victim's family has faithfully stood through all the trials, no matter how many time they have to relive the pain.
"I have had two nervous break downs through it," Moore said.
She is angered by Houston, she said, who walks in the courtroom acting like a celebrity.
"He's not," she said. "We want justice."
Jessica De Leon, Herald law enforcement reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7049. You can follow her on Twitter @JDeLeon1012.
This story was originally published February 7, 2016 at 11:52 PM with the headline "Bradenton murder trial to begin after pregnant woman's family waits for 7 years for justice ."