Crystal Parker and Danielle Alexis Parker had been an item, off and on, for roughly six years, authorities said.
Prosecutors claimed Wednesday that Danielle Parker killed her romantic partner, an East Point police officer, in early July after the two had split up and she learned that Crystal Parker had moved on.
“They spent the night together … and on the morning of (July) 4th, Crystal Parker called a new girlfriend,” Fulton County Assistant District Attorney Ana-Helena R. Allen said during a probable cause hearing for Danielle Parker. “That morning, something happened, and Crystal Parker ended up dead with a bullet in her head in her bedroom, inside her own home.”
She was found dead July 7 of a single gunshot wound that investigators believe came from a .35-caliber bullet.
Fulton County Magistrate Judge Karen Smith Woodson found probable cause on Wednesday to charge Danielle Parker with malice murder, aggravated assault, felony murder and possession of a gun during the commission of a felony in connection with Crystal Parker’s shooting death.
Prosecutors also accused Danielle Parker of breaking into her ex-girlfriend’s home and stealing an X Box gaming system weeks before the shooting and pilfering $1,200 the day of the shooting. Woodson, however, didn’t find probable cause for charges of burglary and theft by receiving.
Danielle Parker remains in the Fulton County Jail awaiting a bond hearing scheduled for Aug. 7.
During Wednesday’s hearing, the lead investigator pointed to greed and jealousy as the possible basis for Danielle Parker’s motive to kill her ex-girlfriend.
“Crystal treated her very well, always money flowing, trips and everything,” Fulton County police Detective Rashad Hudson testified. “Now that she had someone new, (Crystal) very much liked the new young lady.
“Danielle was also one of the main beneficiaries on Crystal’s insurance.”
Hudson told the judge that evidence from cellphone towers pointed to the two being together in the home Crystal Parker owned on Creel Road in unincorporated south Fulton County on the night of July 3.
“I believe the shooting happened on July 4 sometime between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m.,” Hudson said.
Police also found a pair of $600 bank transfers from Crystal Parker’s personal bank account to two accounts that she shared with Danielle Parker, both within an hour of the time frame in which investigators believe Crystal Parker was killed.
When police arrested Danielle Parker on July 9, she was found in the possession of the X Box that had been taken from the Creel Road home, as well as Crystal Parker’s wallet with bank cards and cash and a number of pieces of mail addressed to Crystal Parker.
Investigators also found a single .35-caliber bullet in the room of Danielle Parker’s mother, Hudson said.
Defense attorneys questioned whether Crystal Parker had made enemies in her career who were seeking revenge. Hudson said no.
