Arrests bring little solace in killing of Orlando martial-arts teacher
Slain granddad had just reunited with family
By Mary Tindall | Sentinel Staff Writer
10:55 PM EDT, March 8, 2009
Ruphine Powell was slain Feb. 11 on Mercy Drive. He had recently reunited with his daughters.
Ruphine Powell was slain Feb. 11 on Mercy Drive. He had recently reunited with his daughters. (Powell family / March 8, 2009)
Katrina Ervin knew why the detective was knocking at her door Feb. 12. Her father, who always called on his way home in the evening, hadn't come home -- and it was 6 a.m.
"I was just hoping they'd say he was hurt instead of dead," Ervin, 25, said.
Her father, Ruphine Powell, had been shot to death on Mercy Drive, the victim of an apparent robbery attempt, Orlando police said. He had been shot inside his beloved blue 1990 Ford Mustang, driven a short distance before crashing into a wooded area.
Saturday evening, Terrence Leath, 17, and Jonathan Loyd, 18, were arrested on charges of armed robbery with a firearm and first-degree murder in connection with Powell's death. The two men were taken to Orange County Jail, and additional arrests were "imminent," said Sgt. Barbara Jones of the Orlando Police Department.
For Ervin, the arrests were a mercifully quick break in the case of her father's slaying -- a killing that cut short a long-awaited family reunion.
For months, Powell, 52, had worked two jobs to save money to help his daughters move to Orlando from Connecticut. On Jan. 23, Ervin and her sister, Tammy Jordan, arrived in Orlando.
Ervin brought her two children, ages 4 and 5, with her. For the first time, Powell met his grandchildren. There was an immediate bond.
"My dad's not the young, exuberant guy he was years ago, but he rode around on this floor, and picked up these kids, and ran around with them like it was nothing," Ervin said from her Orlando home. "Really, I feel like he wanted to make up for lost time."
Ervin is one of several people who remembered Powell as a calm, athletic man who loved teaching kung fu and working on his Mustang.
But he didn't have much time for those hobbies, working days and nights as a tool-and-die machinist for two local companies.
At his night job, Powell was a hard worker who never lost his temper, said Gene Augustin, who employed him for seven years.
On the night Powell was shot, he left the factory between 9 and 9:30 p.m., according to security-camera footage. His body was discovered near Mercy Drive and West New Hampshire Street about 11:35 p.m. He was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
Augustin said he thought Powell, who was found in the driver's seat, was trying to make it back to the company's factory after being shot. "He missed the street [the turn to reach the factory] by about 50 feet," swerving into nearby woods instead, Augustin said.
Powell's death came as a shock to his employers, family and friends. They said he had no enemies, no criminal background.
He joined the Marines at age 17 and served for seven or eight years, Ervin said.
Powell brought the discipline he learned in the military to his role as a teacher of kung fu at a local studio, World Ving Tsun Athletic Association in Orlando. From 2003 to 2007, he volunteered several nights a week, mentoring students in the art of ving tsun, a type of kung fu popularized by Bruce Lee. Powell was a first-degree black sash and left the studio only because of health reasons, studio owner Darrell Jordan said.
"He gave of himself wholeheartedly," Jordan said of Powell's efforts. "He pulled himself up by his bootstraps."
Scott Haynes, one of Powell's former students, said he inspired him to hone his skills. They soon became close friends.
"If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have trained as hard," said Haynes, 37, at the studio.
Originally from Connecticut, Powell moved to Orlando about 20 years ago, then attended technical school and began working as a machinist.
By the time of his death, he had achieved one of his major goals: being reunited with his family. He had left Ervin's mother when Ervin was just 3 or 4 years old, moving in and out of their lives over the years.
His daughters' move to Orlando seemed to mark a new chapter in their lives.
"That's what upset me the most," Ervin said. "He just met my kids. I didn't get enough time."
The arrests have soothed some of her grief, Ervin said.
"I didn't want my father's death to go unsolved," she said. "I just want to know [what happened], and I'm hoping they are convicted."