More prison time for Demarcus Parker

West Memphis man charged Forrest City police offi cer’s death sentenced for crimes in police chase

By Ralph Hardin

news@theeveningtimes.com

Even a “Get out of Jail Free” card from the Arkansas State Supreme Court couldn’t keep Demarcus Parker out of prison for very long.

Parker, 32, of West Memphis, whose 2020 conviction for the murder of an off -duty Forrest Citypolice offi cer was vacated in 2023 by the Arkansas Supreme Court, will be behind bars for a while.

Parker appeared in federal courttwice Tuesday in backto- back matters stemming from an incident at the Prairie County jail.

Parker appeared before U.S.

Magistrate Judge Joe Volpe on for an initial appearance on a federal complaint charging him with possession of a prohibited object — a “shank” — in jail.

Following that brief appearance, the career criminal was immedi-ately taken downstairs to the courtroom of U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. for a hearing on a motion seeking revocation of his supervised release, which Parker had begun servingin April 2024 — three weeks after he was sentenced on a plea of guilty to a federal count ofreceipt of a firearm while under felony information.

While Parker seems to be collecting felony charges as though they were the Infinity Stones from Marvel’s “The Avengers” series, his most infamous case stems from seven years ago.

In May of 2018, Parker was charged in Crittenden County Circuit Court in Marion with fi rst-degree murder, unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle, criminal attempt capital murder and forgery in connection with the April 18 fatal shooting that year that resulted in the death of Forrest City police officer Oliver Johnson.

Reports said that Johnson, 25, was inside his apartment playing video games with his niece and other children about 3:30 p.m. that day when two rival gangs engaged in a shootout just outside his apartment. He was killed by a stray bullett hat entered the apartment.

In September of 2020, Parker was convicted by a Crittenden County jury on one count each of first-degree murder and first-degree unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle, six-counts of attempted first-degree murder and 15 counts of second-degree unlawful dischargeof a firearm from a vehicle.

Parker was sentenced to life in prison plus 835 years.

However, while Parker was in

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In September of 2020, Parker was convicted by a Crittenden County jury on one count each of first-degree murder and first-degree unlawful discharge of a firearm from a vehicle, six-counts of attempted first-degree murder and 15 counts of second-degree unlawful dischargeof a firearm from a vehicle.

Parker was sentenced to life in prison plus 835 years.

However, while Parker was in jail awaiting trial, Circuit Judge Randy Philhours, the presiding judge over Parker’s murder trial, grew concerned that Parker’s trial rights were in jeopardy and allowed him to leave jail on his own recognizance in December 2019 after he had been in pre-trial detention for nine months.

Five weeks later on Jan. 17, 2020, Parker was stopped by West Memphis police for a traffic violation and was arrested after officers discovered a loaded pistol that was reported stolen out of Denton, Texas, in 2017. After Parker’s conviction for murder, Crittenden County officials dismissed the January 2020 firearm charge against him.

In March 2023, a divided state Supreme Court found that the state had exceeded the oneyear deadline to bring him to trial by 40 days. The next month, a federal grand jury in Little Rock indicted Parker on one count each of receipt of a firearm while under felony information and possession of a stolen firearm and on July 25, 2023, Parker pleaded guilty to receipt of a firearm while under felony information before Marshall. On April 2, 2024, Marshall sentenced Parker to 50 months in federal prison but he was released on April 24, 2024, to begin serving three years’ supervised release after the Bureau of Prisons calculated that Parker had “overserved” his time on the firearm sentence.

On Oct. 26, 2024, Parker led West Memphis police and Arkansas StatePolice on a high-speed chase after officers tried to stop him for displaying fictitious tags onthe vehicle he was driving. According to court records, Parker first pulled into a parking lot ofan apartment complex but when police attempted to block him in, he then fl ed at a high rateof speed running head-on into the fl ow of heavy traffic at speeds exceeding 90 miles perhour.

On Nov. 5, Parker was charged in Crittenden County with fleeing in a vehicle with substantial danger of causing death or serious injury and on Nov. 19, he pleaded guilty and was given a suspended sentence of five years.

On Oct. 28, two days after the West Memphis arrest, Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters filed amotion to revoke Parker’s supervised release and on Dec. 2, following Parker’s guilty plea andsentence, filed a superseding revocation motion. At an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Edie Ervin on Nov. 27, Parker was ordered detained until the matter could beresolved and Parker was jailed at the Prairie County jail in federal custody.

On Jan. 13, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by Deputy U.S. Marshal Antonio Trillo Jr., during a random jail inspection, a “shank,” a homemade stabbing instrument made out of what appeared to be a piece of the jail’s recreation yard fence, with one end sharpened and theother end fitted with a rubber handle, was found in one of Parker’s socks.

At Tuesday’s initial hearing on the prohibited object charge, Volpe appointed Assistant Federal Public Defender Abigail Obana to represent Parker. According to U.S. sentencing statutes, if convicted, Parker could face up to five years in prison for the offense. At the hearing’s conclusion, Volpe ordered Parker to remain in federal custody but preserved his right to request a bond hearing at a later date.

On the heels of Parker’s initial appearance in Volpe’s court, he was taken to Marshal’s court for the final determination of the revocation petition related to his arrest in West Memphis on Oct. 26 by West Memphis and state police.

According to Marshall, Parker’s guideline sentencing recommendation for the offense was between 6 and 12 months in prison and up to three years’ supervised release. Marshall notedt hat Parker still has 241 days unexpired jail credit outstanding from his prison stay following his overturned murder conviction, which he said the Bureau of Prisons would determine.

After hearing from Peters and Obana, who had jointly agreed to recommend a sentence of 11 months, Marshall agreed and ordered Parker to serve 11 months in prison to be followed by two years on supervised release.

“This is a serious matter,” Marshall said as he announced the sentence. “Driving fast withother cars and people is dangerous, can end up with somebody getting hurt … The next timepolice want to pull you over, you need to pull over and stop and not give in to the temptationto drive off .”