On a December afternoon in Holly Grove, Arkansas, an argument outside an apartment complex at 504 Pine Street swiftly escalated into deadly violence. It was December 10, 2021, when gunfire erupted, leaving two men wounded. One of them was 23-year-old Tyquan Parks. He was rushed to a hospital in nearby Stuttgart, but his injuries proved to be fatal, and he died later that day.
A second victim, 24-year-old Michael Perry, was also wounded in the altercation and was hospitalized in Little Rock.
The Holly Grove police quickly found themselves dealing with a tense and growing crowd at the scene of the shooting and called in the Arkansas State Police for assistance shortly before 5 p.m. Initially asked to help with crowd control, the state police were soon tasked with leading the homicide investigation. Special Agents from the state police's Criminal Investigation Division took charge of the crime scene, processing evidence and interviewing witnesses to piece together the events that led to Parks' death.
The investigation rapidly led to the identification of two suspects from the nearby city of Clarendon. The Monroe County prosecuting attorney issued arrest warrants for 19-year-old Rydarius Craig and another individual, Christopher Howton. The warrants were for charges of first-degree murder and first-degree battery. Howton was apprehended that same night and taken into custody at the Monroe County Detention Center. However, Craig remained at large following the immediate aftermath of the shooting. The investigation by the Arkansas State Police into the death of Tyquan Parks is ongoing.
