FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Alacia Ford-Barron is outraged.
The man accused of murdering her 19-year-old daughter, Myrah Zeigler, is set to be temporarily released from the Broward County jail to attend a funeral.
“It was like a slap in my face,” Ford-Barron said.
Larry Lamar Smith, 20, will be out of jail for 34 hours as he attends his father’s funeral in Miami over the weekend.
“I can’t go pick my daughter out (of) that grave and let me spend some time with her, but he’s able to lay in his bed?” Ford-Barron asked. “No, that’s not right.”
Smith was arrested in July after Fort Lauderdale police said he shot and killed Zeigler, of Fort Pierce, outside of an Airbnb in the 900 block of Southwest 16th Street on May 19.
In late July, Smith’s attorney requested the temporary release.
On Monday, Broward Judge Tim Bailey heard testimony from Smith’s mother, who provided details of the funeral.
Prosecutors objected, but, in the end, Bailey granted Smith’s request.
“The judge ruled in favor of the defense and ordered that the defendant can be released overnight from 9 a.m. on Friday through 7 p.m. on Saturday to attend the wake and funeral,” the Broward State Attorney’s Office said in a statement to Local 10 News. “The judge ordered the defendant to wear a GPS monitor and to be accompanied by his mother.”
Ford-Barron said she didn’t know about the hearing and would have loved to have spoken to the judge herself. Officials with the state attorney’s office said the prosecutor met with her via Zoom.
“No, I did not know, because if I did know about this motion, I would have been there to speak on behalf of my daughter,” Ford-Barron said.
So how is someone accused of second-degree murder, held on no bond, able to be temporarily released with a GPS monitor? Local 10 News asked criminal defense attorney Mark Eiglarsh.
“This is an extremely rare ruling,” Eiglarsh said. “It happens, and I applaud judges who take risks, who are compassionate, but that understanding is with the risk that they could not return to court or, worse, commit a new offense while they are out.”
But Bailey scheduled a new hearing Thursday to clarify his ruling. Ford-Barron said she’s thankful for a chance to possibly change his mind.
“This makes me feel like somebody is listening, that I’m going to be able to be heard now and hopefully things will change,” she said.
Thursday’s hearing will be at 8:30 a.m.
Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved.
