Judge hears request in juvenile case

FORT SMITH — A Sebastian County Circuit Court judge was shown two sides of Dionte Parks’ personality Wednesday as he prepared to decide whether to transfer Parks’ murder case and those of two co-defendants to juvenile court.

On one side, Judge Stephen Tabor heard Kay Rodgers Park Director Denny Flynn testify he knew Parks, 17, from age 12 to 15. He said Parks’ love of horses and “happy-go-lucky” personality made him a part of the rodeo community at the park and elsewhere.

“He was a person you just liked,” said Flynn, adding he was shocked when he heard Parks had been arrested in connection with someone’s death. Parks, who lived in an apartment next to the park, was invited to spend time with other young people at Flynn’s home in Charleston and at homes in Ratcliff and Sallisaw, Okla., practicing riding and roping, Flynn said.

“We had no instances at the park there that caused us any problems,” Flynn said of Parks.

On the other side, Parks’ mother LaRhonda Marable testified her son was on probation for theft when he was arrested days after the Jan. 23, 2016, shooting death of his 22-year-old neighbor Kaleb Watson, a senior in electrical engineering at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.

Parks and brothers Shakur Sharp, now 18, and James Sharp, now 16, each are

charged as adults with first-degree murder, kidnapping and two counts of aggravated robbery.

Their attorneys are arguing the three, who were juveniles at the time, were too immature to fully appreciate the seriousness of what they were doing. They also suffered from psychological problems and lacked stable home lives, according to their attorneys.

A brief introduced by one of the boys’ attorneys before the hearing argued the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized minors are distinguishable from adults, susceptible to immature and irresponsible behavior, and vulnerable to negative influences.

Marable revealed Wednesday while being questioned by Shakur Sharp’s attorney, Leonardo Monterrey of North Little Rock, Parks came up with the ploy he knock on Watson’s front door to distract him while the Sharp brothers entered through the back door to rob him.

Watson’s friend Bailey Smith testified earlier in the hearing Watson was shot and killed in a struggle with Shakur, who was armed with a pistol.

Marable said when she found out about her son’s participation in Watson’s death, she questioned him. She said he replied he knocked on the door and then ran home because

he was scared.

The initial plan, according to testimony in the hearing, was for Parks to knock on the front door and then circle around to the back door and enter the apartment with the Sharp brothers.

Fort Smith’s Belle Point School Principal Maria Arnold also testified Wednesday that Parks was suspended from school three times during his sophomore year in 2015 for fighting and disorderly conduct, among other things.

Arnold said the disorderly conduct suspension was for

calling her “the b word.” She said Parks tearfully apologized to her later.

She said Parks had several psychological problems and was put in the special education program. He was promoted through the grades by attaining goals, such as learning life skills, rather than mastering state education standards.

With the completion Wednesday of four days of testimony, Tabor gave the attorneys a week to file trial briefs.

After that, he said, he’ll issue a ruling.