Lorenzo Parks, a 38-year-old Black / African American male, lost his life on the evening of May 18, 2016, in what began as a random street encounter in Parkland, a suburb of Tacoma, Washington. That night, a group of seven young men, some of them teenagers, were out after a night of drinking and shoplifting when they decided to commit a robbery. Their target was Parks, who was simply walking down the street.
The group confronted him in the 12700 block of Pacific Avenue South and demanded that he give them everything he had. Parks, having nothing of value on him, turned his pockets inside out to show they were empty.
Despite his compliance and the fact that he had nothing to give, the encounter took a fatal turn. After showing his empty pockets, Parks crossed the street to walk away from the group. At that point, one of the teenagers, 17-year-old Dakota Mikalle Collins, fatally shot him. Another member of the group, 17-year-old James Purnell Mapp III, was said to have encouraged Collins to pull the trigger. Pierce County Sheriff's deputies responded to a call and found Parks deceased on the ground in front of an auto parts store. The cause of his death was a single gunshot wound.
The investigation into the senseless killing of Lorenzo Parks led to the identification and arrest of all seven individuals involved. The suspects were Lonnie Brantley Jr., 19; Jamar Jones, 20; and five teenagers: Dakota Mikalle Collins, 16; James Mapp, 16; Khiry Baylis, 16; and twin brothers Dasjon and Rasjon Robinson, 16. Due to the severity of the crime, the teenage suspects were charged as adults. Within weeks of the incident, all suspects were in custody, with James Mapp being the last to be apprehended after he turned himself in on June 11, 2016. The legal proceedings that followed saw the individuals face charges ranging from murder to attempted robbery. Dakota Collins, the shooter, was sentenced to more than 21 years in prison. James Mapp, who encouraged the shooting, received a sentence of over 18 years. The other five members of the group received varying sentences for their roles in the crime.
