As Jalen Parks’s family prepared to bury him on May 16, they looked up from the graveyard and saw that an airplane had created two hearts in the sky.
The pilot probably had no clue that he brought smiles to the grieving family as they honored Parks, an Augusta man who remains one of Richmond County’s seven unsolved homicides from 2020.
Parks was 23 when he was fatally shot at the Get-N-Go gas station on Windsor Spring Road. He died later at the hospital.
Jalen was a graduate of Richmond Academy from the Prestigious IB program, according to his obituary. He was an intermediate violinist and a part of the school track team. Jalen enjoyed modeling as a hobby. He was employed by Walmart.
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Denise Meminger wrote this about him on Facebook:
“(He) was well educated, responsible, loving, understanding, dedicated, hardworking, and always trying to others see the brighter side of the negative,” she said. “Someone that didn’t deserve to be murdered nor for his killer to still be free. … Give us peace of mind of at least this while we still try to move forward as a family that mourns and has to explain to his siblings.”
It’s been eight months and his case remains unsolved.
The sheriff’s office made quick arrests in most of the 43 murder cases they had last year, but seven remain open. Killings have climbed every year since the county recorded 18 in 2013.
On Friday, they released posters in two of the unsolved cases from last year.
“The Sheriff’s Office is asking the public for assistance in bringing justice to this case, for one of their fellow citizens,” a poster for Ketron McCray says. “Together we can help provide closure to this senseless death and provide closure for McCray’s family and friends.”
They said the same thing in a poster about Carl Collins Jr.
Besides Jalen Parks, the other six unsolved Richmond County homicides from 2020:
• Sept. 3: Army veteran Victor Banks, 38, of Grovetown, was fatally shot at Ikonz Sports Bar in Augusta.
Bank’s membership in the Outcast MC motorcycle club is being examined to see if it played a part in his death. He worked as a bank teller at Wells Fargo on Fort Gordon. But a photo posted to GunMemorial.org shows Banks with a T-shirt for Outcast MC.
Deputies were called at 10:14 p.m. Sept. 2 to the Augusta bar, which was celebrating Biker Night. Banks was on the ground, suffering from a gunshot wound to the groin area. Shelonda Addison, a local biker and retired Army nurse, was attempting to provide aid.
Deputy Dillon Wright asked Addison and Banks if they saw who had done the shooting. “I didn’t receive a response from anybody,” Deputy Wright said in his report.
The officer later found Addison’s SUV, which was struck by several rounds.
The victim was transported to the Augusta University Medical Center by EMS where he died at 7:45 a.m. Sept. 2.
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An obituary says Banks served two combat tours in Iraq. He was honorably discharged in 2010, but he continued to serve as a reservist. He was survived by a teenage daughter as well as a son.
“Victor had a passion for riding motorcycles and being on the open road. He worked with local organizations where he mentored local youth in boxing, physical fitness and after-school tutoring,” his obituary said.
• Sept. 22: Carl Collins Jr., 29, was found murdered on 11:06 p.m. on the 2400 Block of Old Barton Chapel Road. He was known to live in and hang around the Barton Village area. He was survived by three children, an obituary says.
• Oct. 3: Antuan Harris, a transgender woman who went by Felycya Harris, was found dead at Meadowlark Park, just off Meadowbrook Drive in Augusta.
Richmond County authorities say the pool of potential suspects could be large. The victim had been recording sexual encounters with men who reportedly didn’t know she was born a man. One May incident report was filed by a man who said Harris had demanded $500 or she would release the secret video of their oral sex encounter.
Harris was shot to death, Coroner Mark Bowen said.
The victim’s mother pleaded online for help in catching her child’s killer. Clara Taylor posted this: “Whomever did this to my child will pay. Remember that. To everyone that mentioned they wanted him dead…. Yes, y’all will be making that trip to Richmond County. Point blank period. I’m sorry if I offended anyone. I’m ANGRY.”
The post was later deleted.
The family sent Felycya out in Chanel style, with a purple casket that had her photo and flair throughout the funeral hall.
• Oct. 23: Charles Watkins Jr., 48, was found dead in a wooded area on Hephzibah McBean Road. The coroner said he appears to have been dead for a few days and had suffered some kind of trauma that indicates a homicide. No one had reported him missing.
Neptune Society of Atlanta handled funeral arrangements, but no obituary was ever done or any photo released.
• Nov. 21: Ketron McCray, 18, was found murdered on at 10:28 p.m. on the 400 block of Aiken Street in Augusta. McCray was known to live in and hang around the Aiken Street area.
• Dec. 13: Tanya Askew, 41, of the 700 block of East Chapman Street, was shot at least one time at Walker and Second streets and was pronounced dead on the scene at 9:50 a.m., authorities said. One loved one remembered her as “a loving and caring person” whose smile “brightened a room.”
If anyone has any information on any of these cases, please contact the Homicide Division at the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office at (706) 821-1020 or (706) 821-1078.
Greg Rickabauh is the Jail Report Contributor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at greg.rickabaugh@theaugustapress.com
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