NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. -- Debra Gibson was a street walker with a record of petty crimes. James Desmond Booth was a convicted drug dealer. When their paths met again on Jan. 25, 2011, she was shot dead.
Prosecutors say Booth ambushed and gunned down the police informant who would have testified against him. The 30-year-old Booth could face the death penalty if convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of Debra Gibson, 46, an Edgewater woman who was a confidential informant, or "CI," for police.
A Volusia County grand jury handed up an indictment charging Booth with first-degree murder in Gibson's shooting death. Booth had sold drugs to Gibson in August 2010, and he was arrested for that sale in December 2010, according to the State Attorney's Office.