Livingston Stocker, a 33-year-old resident of Carol City, Florida, was tragically murdered on July 27, 1977. Stocker, a Vietnam veteran and small-time marijuana dealer, was one of the victims in what became known as the Carol City murders. On the evening of his death, John Errol Ferguson, along with accomplices Marvin Francois and Beauford White, gained entry to Stocker's home by posing as a power company employee.
Once inside, they tied up Stocker and several others present in the house, including Margaret Wooden, who survived the ordeal and later testified against the perpetrators.
The intruders, after binding their victims, proceeded to rob the house of valuables, including firearms and jewelry. When Stocker and his friends arrived home, they were also tied up and robbed. The situation escalated when Michael Miller, Stocker's nephew, arrived and was similarly restrained. The assailants, now masked, decided to eliminate all witnesses. Ferguson took Wooden and Miller into a bedroom and shot them both in the head, though Wooden survived. Francois then took the remaining six victims into another room and executed them with a shotgun, including Stocker.
The aftermath of the massacre saw a significant investigation that led to the arrest and conviction of Ferguson, Francois, and White. Ferguson was found guilty of multiple counts of first-degree murder, robbery, and other charges. He was sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection in 2013 after years of appeals. Francois and White were also sentenced to death and executed in the 1980s. The case was notable for its brutality and the sheer number of victims, marking it as one of the most heinous crimes in Miami-Dade County's history. The testimonies of survivors like Margaret Wooden were crucial in securing the convictions of the perpetrators.
