In the quiet community of Coram, New York, a grim discovery was made on the morning of December 22, 2014. Parish Whitty, a 22-year-old male, was found lifeless inside his black 2000 Infiniti Q45. A passing motorist spotted the vehicle parked on the shoulder of Coram-Swezeytown Road and alerted the authorities. When police arrived, they found Whitty had been fatally shot.
The investigation into Whitty's death took a mysterious turn as, on the very same morning, another man, 24-year-old
Leon Parks, was also found deceased less than two miles away. Parks was discovered in a grassy area of an apartment complex. He, too, had been shot. The proximity in time and location of the two deaths led Suffolk County homicide detectives to explore the possibility of a connection between the two incidents, treating both as homicides.
In the initial stages of the investigation, police sought the public's help for any information that might lead to an understanding of what had happened to the two young men. Detectives interviewed the registered owner of the car in which Whitty was found and noted that residents in the area had recalled hearing gunshots the night before the bodies were discovered. However, the investigation was met with challenges, with authorities at the time stating they were not receiving significant cooperation from the public.
Years have passed since the violent deaths of Parish Whitty and Leon Parks, yet the cases remain unsolved. Despite the initial investigation and the ongoing efforts of law enforcement, no arrests have been made, and no suspects have been publicly identified in connection with either murder. The question of whether the two killings were related remains unanswered, leaving a lingering sense of uncertainty and unresolved justice for the families of the two men. In 2024, the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office announced the formation of a new Cold Case Unit aimed at tackling the county's hundreds of unsolved homicides, offering a glimmer of hope that cases like Parish Whitty's may one day be solved.
