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A Jefferson County grand jury indicted Joseph Patrick Lewis in the September 2016 shooting death of 4-year-old Rodriquez Ferguson.

(Birmingham Police)

The man accused in the fatal shooting of a 4-year-old Birmingham boy has now been indicted in the killing.

A Jefferson County grand jury on March 10 indicted Joseph Patrick Lewis on a reckless murder charge, according to court records made public Wednesday. The indictment stems from the September 25, 2016 shooting of Rodriquez Ferguson, who was shot in the head on his grandmother's front porch in Ensley.

Lewis "did recklessly engage in conduct which manifested extreme indifference to human life and created a grave risk of death...by shooting a pistol into a group of people" the indictment reads. Police have previously said there was an argument at the home over a cell phone that led to the gunfire and Rodriquez was caught in the crossfire.

Lewis was arrested two days later. Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper, calling the case the department's highest priority, said officers had been knocking on doors, following leads and doing everything they could do to track him down.

When the Birmingham police Crime Reduction Team arrested Lewis, they heard him use profanity and yell, "Oh no" when police knocked on his door. When neither Lewis nor other people in the home would answer the door, officers kicked it in and arrested Lewis without further incident.

At a preliminary hearing held in November 2016, Birmingham homicide Det. Jeff Steele said shell casings found at the scene came from three different guns. Witnesses said they were on the front porch when Lewis arrived. Multiple members of the Ferguson family said Lewis began to wave a gun, but then left the porch and began to walk down the sidewalk to his car.

Once he arrived to his car, Steele testified, witnesses said Lewis, "racked the gun, wheeled around, and pointed it at the front porch."

Lewis was released from jail on a $100,000 bond and is under electronic monitoring. No trial date has yet been set.