The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office is offering a $10,000 reward to find the man accused of killing an 11-year-old girl who was asleep in her bed, the agency said Thursday.
But investigators believe Keonta Jahaun Parks may have cut his hair and changed his appearance, and they aren’t sure if he’s still in the area.
“With the cooperation of family and friends, we have attempted to get word to him to turn himself in peacefully or at least communicate with us. However, he has refused,” Spalding Sheriff Darrell Dix said in a news release. “At this point, he has made the conscious decision to run. That is his choice and his decision, just like pulling a trigger was his choice and his decision.”
On March 14 at around 1 a.m., shots were fired at a vehicle with a man and a 3-year-old inside in the Spalding Heights neighborhood near Griffin, the sheriff’s office said. The intended target wasn’t hit.
But Asijah Jones was hit by a bullet that pierced her bedroom wall, according to investigators. The sixth grader was beside her sister in bed. Asijah died before deputies arrived, her family said.
“There were so many bullets, but only she was hit,” Angel Jones, Asijah’s sister, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I just heard her scream.”
Credit: Family photo
Credit: Family photo
Within hours of the shooting, Parks was charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, cruelty to children, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, violation of the street gang act, and violation of the domestic terrorism statute, the sheriff’s office said. He also has outstanding warrants stemming from his alleged involvement in another shooting incident that investigators recently linked him to, Dix said.
“If he has a different side to the story, we will listen to it,” Dix said. “We can’t hear it if he’s running and refuses to talk to us. Running isn’t going to help him, and it’s just a matter of time before he is caught. Her blood on his hands isn’t going away, and neither are we.”
Anyone with information is asked to call 770-467-4282 and ask to speak to an investigator.
