Grieving mother speaks out about daughter’s suspected murderer who is now charged with Zelda Road murder
A grieving Montgomery mother is speaking out in frustration after a man suspected of killing her daughter in 2022 is charged with killing another man last week on Zelda Road in Montgomery. Traffic was brought to a standstill around noon last Tuesday, as multiple law enforcement agencies descended on the Chevron gas station on Zelda Road minutes after 24-year-old Rodriquez Harris, Jr. was gunned down.
MPD charged 18-year-old Rodriques Humphrey with capital murder and attempted murder of a police officer for allegedly shooting at a Montgomery police officer while trying to flee. Two other men were also charged in the case, but Humphrey’s name is the one that caught Patricia Holliday June’s attention. It was the same name she’d seen on paperwork police gave her after her daughter’s murder.
“I saw the name that they tried to blank out and knew the name, so I reached out to her and said is this a suspect and she said yes. She said yes I believe he is a valuable piece to the case. I believe he did it,” said June.
June’s 35 year old daughter – Erica Ashley June – was killed on October 25, 2022. As a working mother of 7, Erica didn’t have many quiet moments to herself. She’d just pulled up to her home on 4th Street and was sitting in her car out front listening to music, when she was shot twice in the arm and once in the neck. It was her children who found her.
“The grandkids coming out and finding their mama shot, trying to cover her wounds and stop the bleeding,” said June.
June says investigators with MPD told her Humphrey, who was then 15 years old, admitted to a family member that he’d killed Erica but then told police he did not, and so he was released. “He was still the major suspect,” said June. “He still is to this day?” said Action 8’s Estee Morrison. “He still is to this day,” said June.
Several years later, investigators told June that Humphrey was also a suspect in another murder in 2023 when he would have been 17 years old. “With a minor, they’re not going to release any names or anything, but they said ‘yes he’s related to that’ and I said ‘OK let me call the detective’ and she said yes. Yes on this one right here. We got him. You won’t have to worry about him getting out again – that’s what I thought,” said June.
June is frustrated that Humphrey was allowed back on the streets. “To me he’s a serial killer, so why is he still getting away? Why is he still being released to sit here and terrorize the community and have more family members missing their children and their family members? Why? Why was he still on the streets?” said June.
As she waits for her daughter’s murder to be solved, June continues to keep Erica’s memory alive for her grandchildren.
“She was a sweet person, outgoing person, bubbly. Always reaching to make anybody that was sad happy as much as she could. She helped a lot of people. We have video of her talking, pictures, and things that she’s written in her recipe book. So now we gather together and say let’s put our recipes in here too,” said June.
