CLAYTON, Mo. – Just a month after being convicted for the death of his 9-year-old disabled son, Dawan Ferguson found himself on the receiving end of another guilty verdict by a St. Louis County jury.
On Wednesday, Ferguson was convicted on one count of first-degree statutory rape – person less than 14 years old, first-degree statutory sodomy – person less than 14 years old, second-degree statutory rape, second-degree statutory sodomy, and second-degree child molestation.
According to a spokesman for the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, the jury deliberated for nearly three hours before returning its verdict.
Ferguson will be sentenced on September 16.
On July 1, Dawan Ferguson was found guilty of first-degree murder after his son, Christian, disappeared on June 11, 2003.
Dawan called 911 that morning from a pay phone outside a gas station at Page and Skinker to report his SUV had been carjacked with Christian still inside the vehicle. Dawan said he was bringing Christian to St. Louis Children’s Hospital at the time and stopped to call the hospital in advance of their arrival. Police found the SUV hours later but not Christian. Court documents said Christian would have died within 48 hours without his medications.
Christian was never found and eventually presumed dead.
The 9-year-old had been born with a genetic disorder of one’s metabolism called citrullinemia, which means the body produces more ammonia in the blood. As a result, the boy needed to be on medications and could only ingest a minuscule amount of protein in his daily diet.