COWARTS: 9:45 pm Houston County 911 dispatched Cowarts Volunteer Fire, Ashford Rescue and Houston County Sheriff Deputies to Jordan Avenue in Cowarts. You will see multiple units. There is no foul play, as we understand, as to why the units are present.
PRAY for those involved. RSN is not going to explain. Just letting you know there is no foul play at this time, expected.
Houston County Sheriff Department is in charge.
UPDATED @ 5:37 AM
Last evening Houston County 911 dispatched a firearm assault, possible self inflicted, in the 2900 block of Jordan Avenue in Cowarts. The reports were a 15 year old was shot and was possibly self inflicted.
Houston County Sheriff Major Bill Rafferty, Houston County Patrol Deputies, Cowarts Volunteer Fire, Ashford Rescue responded. Shortly thereafter Houston County Sheriff Donald Valena, Houston County Criminal Investigations Lt. Anthony Hatcher, Houston County Sheriff Criminal Investigations Captain Arias, Houston County Criminal Investigations Sgt. Brandon Barnes and others responded to the scene. In fact Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza just went home at 5:37 AM this morning.
RSN was brief because initially it was thought to be self inflicted, and it being a 15 year old male, well RSN does not cover self inflicted unless in public place and this was at a residence. But with 10 or more Sheriff Deputies on the scene, Fire and EMS, on the main street in Cowarts, RSN felt something needed to be posted.
As the investigation moved forward, this changed from a self inflicted to a murder. Sheriff Valenza and Criminal Investigators have worked through the night on the case. While all details are not known at this time, and I am not going to wake Sheriff up, and no one is showing on the booked list on the Houston County Jail – which is a common problem with the Houston County Jail. For the Sheriff to go home I feel a person or persons have been arrested.
What the murder is over is unknown at this time. No press statement has been issued.
RSN always questions myself. On the first call, a 15 year old, possible self inflicted. And RSN knew the person was deceased. And Ashford Rescue had to return to the scene because someone had difficulty breathing, do we post that or not. RSN felt something needed to be posted because the amount of activity, but RSN does not want to publish someone’s child who took their life. So where do we draw the line?
So we were brief with what the initial reports were. This one changed in the course of the investigation. So what something looks like at the beginning is not what it is once all layers are peeled back.
As more information is available we will update.
UPDATE: @ 9:46 AM Teen Identified in Cowarts Murder Investigation
Authorities have identified the victim in an apparent overnight murder investigation in Cowarts as a teenager.
Multiple sources confirm that Robert Byrd, Houston County Coroner, identified the victim as Karion Parrish. Parrish was fatally shot at a residence on Jordan Avenue in the town of Cowarts.
While investigators have not released an official statement, sources familiar with the case say Parrish was inside the home when shots were fired from outside the residence.
According to sources, multiple individuals were questioned in connection with the shooting, and possible charges may be pending.
The Houston County Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate. Additional information is expected to be released as it becomes available.
Stay with Rickey Stokes News for updates.
