On a cold winter's night in the Bronx, a single gunshot shattered the evening quiet and ended the life of 36-year-old Jason Parris. On Saturday, January 11, 2020, at approximately 10:37 PM, police responded to a 911 call reporting a man shot in the vicinity of 1441 Webster Avenue. Upon their arrival, they discovered Parris with a gunshot wound to his head. Emergency medical services rushed him to St.
Barnabas Hospital, but his injury was too severe, and he was pronounced deceased.
The investigation that followed led to the apprehension of two suspects. Daron Goodman, 22, and Jamarr Simmons, 32, were subsequently arrested and faced federal charges for the murder of Jason Parris. Initially, Goodman was arrested and charged with murder, manslaughter, and criminal possession of a weapon. Later, federal indictments were unsealed, charging both Goodman and Simmons with using a firearm to commit murder in aid of racketeering. Authorities alleged that the killing was motivated by the suspects' desire to maintain and elevate their standing within a racketeering enterprise.
While the prosecution painted a picture of a murder connected to organized crime, a different narrative emerged from the defense. An attorney for Daron Goodman claimed that the fatal shot was fired in a desperate attempt to save Parris, who he described as a friend, from a gang beating that was taking place near a Kennedy Fried Chicken on Webster Avenue. In the federal case against him, prosecutors sought a 20-year sentence for Goodman. Jamarr Simmons was arrested, and Daron Goodman, who was already in state custody, was transferred to federal custody to face the charges.
