Black Drug Pusher Jailed for Killing White Driver While Arguing with Passenger

Tampa Bay
February 9, 2014

Felicia Vickers
Felicia Vickers had just moved to a new area in order to start a new life.

A St. Petersburg man was sentenced to life in prison Thursday after a jury found him guilty of killing a woman during a drug deal last year.

Morris V. Hires, 19, was found guilty of second-degree murder after a three-day trial.

Hires shot and killed Felicia Celeste Vickers, 21, on March 15. Vickers, who had recently moved to St. Petersburg from her native Tennessee, was in a group of people who drove to Hires’ house to buy drugs, authorities said. When they got there, one of the people in the car argued with Hires.

130318125157_Morris-Hires
The Black drug pusher started firing randomly into the car and fatally wounded the woman driver.

He then pulled a gun and fired into the car. A bullet hit Vickers.

The group drove to Bayfront Medical Center, where they dropped off Vickers and sped away, police said. She was taken into the hospital, but died later that day. Detectives later zeroed in on Hires as a suspect.

Police said Hires left the area for some time, but returned a few weeks later. Officers arrested him at this home, 535 26th Ave. S, after a police dog found him hiding in a crib.