Prosecutors on Wednesday dismissed a murder charge against a Charleston woman, after she admitted to robbing a man before he fell to his death from her apartment window last year.
Lisa Ferrebee, 46, of Charleston, pleaded guilty to first-degree robbery, according to court documents on file in the Kanawha circuit clerk's office. She and three others were indicted on both robbery and murder charges earlier this year in the death of Bryson "B" Ward, of Detroit.
Ward fell last September from a ninth-floor window at Charleston's Vista View Apartments during a robbery, according to prosecutors and police. Ward's body was found in the grass outside the apartments. Polive have said there were signs of a struggle in the apartment from which he fell.
Ferrebee was originally charged by police with accessory to robbery and murder, but a Kanawha grand jury returned the more severe charges against her in April.
Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom will sentence Ferrebee on May 26. She must receive a sentence of at least 10 years in prison, according to the deal she made. Prosecutors will ask the judge to hand down a 15-year sentence.
Ferrebee, who is represented by Charleston attorney Tom Price, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testify against the three men - including her son - who were also charged in Ward's robbery and death.
Tyler Ferrebee, 23, of Dunbar; Brian Parks, 28, of Charleston; and Martez Griffin, 24, of Detroit, all face murder and robbery charges. Their trial is tentatively set for Monday, although Tyler Ferrebee and Parks are scheduled to appear in front of Bloom on Thursday, according to the judge's docket.
The three men allegedly planned to go to the apartment and rob Ward of money and heroin, police previously said. Several thousand dollars in cash was divided between them after the incident, according to the allegations.
Surveillance video obtained by police showed three men in the hallway outside of Ferrebee's apartment at about the time police received a disturbance call, according to charging documents in the cases.
A witness told police that Lisa Ferrebee was dating Griffin and that he sometimes stayed in her apartment with her, officers previously said. The day Ward died, the witness reported hearing Griffin appear angry with Ward.
Tyler Ferrebee allegedly told police that Griffin and Parks formed a plan to "steal B's [stuff] and cut off his [genitals]," according to charging documents. He also allegedly admitted he drove the men to the apartment.
Lisa Ferrebee and Griffin were arrested by state police in Arkansas, where they fled after Ward's death.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.