Christina Outz Parker, known to friends and family as "Christy," was remembered in her obituary as a "loving and adorable person." A 34-year-old mother to a son, she was a graduate of Piedmont High School in Monroe, North Carolina. Born in Mecklenburg County on September 13, 1970, Christy’s life was cut short around Christmas Eve of 2003, a loss that would not be fully understood for more than two years.
Her family and community were left grappling with her sudden and violent disappearance.
On January 5, 2004, a grim discovery was made in a creek in a rural, northern part of Union County. The body, which had been there for several days, was identified by family members as Christina Parker. An autopsy confirmed she had died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head. The location where she was found was unsettlingly close—less than a quarter of a mile—to where another woman, Sharon House Pressley, had been found murdered under similar circumstances back in 1997. This proximity led investigators to immediately start comparing the two unsolved cases.
For two years, Christina’s murder remained a mystery, a cold case that left a shadow over the community. Investigators knew she had some prior drug convictions and frequented certain areas in Monroe. They noted the similarities between her death and Pressley's, but a solid lead was elusive. The break in the case would not come until another woman, Sharon Tucker Stone, went missing. Christina and Sharon Stone, 46, were acquaintances.
In early 2006, Sharon Stone's dismembered body was found in neighboring Chesterfield County, South Carolina. The brutality of her murder prompted a multi-agency task force that re-energized the investigation into the string of unsolved killings. Investigators learned that a North Carolina Department of Transportation worker named Scott Wilson Williams was an acquaintance of Stone's. This connection was the key that unlocked the entire case. When police began to question Williams, a 42-year-old with no prior criminal record, the pieces of a dark and terrifying puzzle fell into place. He not only knew Stone but also Christina Parker and Sharon Pressley.
Scott Wilson Williams was arrested on March 9, 2006. He was a man who had lived a seemingly normal life, yet harbored a monstrous secret. A search of his home uncovered a horrifying collection of weapons, handcuffs, chains, and knives. Ballistics tests matched firearms from his home to the bullets found in the victims. DNA evidence, witness identifications from two other women who had survived attacks in 1995 and 2000, and Williams's own incriminating statements built an overwhelming case. He was a serial killer who had preyed on women in the Charlotte area for over a decade.
The investigation revealed that Williams abducted, shot, and mutilated his victims. Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey noted that Williams and the women he killed knew each other through what he termed a "high-risk lifestyle." The three murdered women—Sharon Pressley in 1997, Christina Parker in 2003, and Sharon Stone in 2006—were all shot in the head and their bodies left in remote areas near rural roads.
To avoid a potential death sentence, Scott Wilson Williams entered an Alford plea on July 18, 2008. This allowed him to plead guilty without admitting to the crimes, acknowledging that prosecutors had enough evidence to convict him. He was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder, as well as multiple counts of attempted murder, first-degree kidnapping, rape, forcible sexual offense, and robbery with a dangerous weapon related to his other victims. The plea deal guaranteed that he would never be free again.
Scott Williams was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. While some family members of his victims expressed a preference for the death penalty, they found solace in the fact that he would spend the rest of his life in prison. For the family of Christina Parker, the legal resolution brought a close to a long and painful chapter, ensuring the man who stole the life of their loving and adorable Christy would never harm another person.
