Ronnie Fuston was sentenced to death by the State of Oklahoma for the murder of Michael Rhodes
According to court documents Ronnie Fuston would shoot and kill Michael Rhoades as he sat on his couch with his three year old daughter
Ronnie Fuston would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
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Where Is Ronnie Fuston Now
Ronnie Fuston is incarcerated at Oklahoma State Penitentiary
Ronnie Fuston Case
A gang member accused of killing an Oklahoma City man to gain some street cred is headed to death row.
Oklahoma County jurors on Thursday chose the punishment for Ronnie Eugene Fuston after learning he also killed another man in Enid. Fuston was given life in prison without the possibility of parole in that case.
Fuston, a 107 Hoover Crip gang member, was convicted this month of first-degree murder in the Oct. 20, 2012, shooting death of Michael Donnell Rhodes, 58.
Prosecutors called Fuston a hit man from Enid looking to gain some street cred. Defense attorneys said Fuston wasn’t there for the shooting.
Fuston, now 24, drove to Oklahoma City the day of the shooting to help some female gang members with an ongoing dispute with Rhodes’ niece, prosecutors alleged. That night, Fuston and others went to Rhodes’ house in northwest Oklahoma City to confront the niece, according to prosecutors.
After the door was kicked in, Fuston fired five shots into the house, striking Rhodes three times as he laid on the couch with his 3-year-old daughter, prosecutors said.
During closing arguments Thursday, First Assistant District Attorney Scott Rowland told jurors he didn’t know how the girl escaped the “hail of gunfire,” but was glad she did. He said the girl was found splattered in her father’s blood.
Prosecutors said Fuston was connected to the crime through cellphone and ballistic evidence. Fuston also bragged about the shooting afterward, police reported.
Defense attorneys contended there was no evidence Fuston pulled the trigger.
During the trial’s punishment stage, his defense asked jurors not to choose the death penalty because Fuston came from an abusive home and was a “low-functioning” individual.
Rowland, though, told the jurors Fuston’s siblings didn’t become criminals. The prosecutor also said Fuston wasn’t low-functioning but didn’t want to function as a law-abiding citizen.
He also said Fuston would be a continuing threat to society.
“He has wreaked havoc on so many innocent people,” Rowland said.
Jurors in Garfield County found Fuston guilty of first-degree murder in November 2016. In that case, Fuston was accused of shooting Heath Crites, 24, multiple times during a home invasion in Enid about two months after the Oklahoma City shooting.
Prosecutors told jurors Fuston has been involved in multiple drive-by shootings and robberies. Fuston also assaulted at least five people during his time in jail, according to prosecutors