WRIGHTSVILLE, Ga. — Officials in Walton County are sharing new details after a deputy shot and killed a Wrightsville homicide suspect Saturday.
On Monday, Walton County Sheriff Joe Chapman explained how the case developed...
The investigation began when the suspect, 35-year-old William Parrott, was shot and killed after causing a series of accidents in Loganville.
Chapman says they got a call around 7 p.m. Saturday about a man ramming into parked cars at a Marathon gas station.
By the time deputies arrived, Parrott was gone, and then they received a call from the EZ Stop convenience store about mile south on Highway 81. His vehicle had broken down and was parked on the side of the road.
“Other people thought it was an accident and stopped to help, I guess to see what they could do,” said Chapman.
Parrott then told those people he had just killed his mother, according to Chapman. He says Parrott lunged at a responding deputy with a sledgehammer.
The deputy fired one shot, hitting Parrott, and he died on the way to a nearby hospital.
"The deputy did what he had to do. He had to make a split-second decision,” said Chapman. “My priority is always innocent citizens and my deputies. In this incident, there certainly could have been some bystanders injured."
Meanwhile, deputies were looking for Parrott’s mother after he made those statements about killing her. They found Rieta Parrott dead in a Loganville mobile home park.
Investigators also found a wallet in William Parrott’s truck that belonged to his father, Donald, who lived in Wrightsville. Walton County deputies called Wrightsville Police and asked for an officer to check on the father.
Officers went to Donald’s home and found him dead just before 8 p.m. Saturday.
Sheriff Chapman says Parrott’s brother told investigators William had a history of drug abuse. Chapman also says mental health may have also been a factor.
“I’m not a psychiatrist, but you got to be damn crazy to kill your momma and daddy,” said Chapman.
Parrott has a history of run-ins with Walton County deputies dating back to 2014 including; criminal trespass, family violence, battery, leaving the scene of an accident, driving under the influence, public drunkenness, and multiple probation violations, according to Walton County Sheriff’s Office.
“Those are charges just with us, not statewide criminal history,” said Chapman.
William Parrott’s body will be taken to the GBI Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.
The GBI will investigate and turn their findings over to the Alcovy Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office in Covington for review.
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