Dead man’s sister pleads for help

Rome police are still investigating the fatal shooting of James Edward Parks on Nixon Avenue.

The family of a Rome man shot to death on Nixon Avenue is pleading for anyone with information about the incident to come forward.

“I believe people saw it,” Shalamar Parks said Wednesday. “I believe somebody knows what happened. But nobody wants to talk until it happens to their family members.”

Parks is the older sister of James Edward Parks, who was killed near Grover Street the night of June 14. Witnesses say a car pulled up, some words were exchanged and seven or eight shots were fired.

Rome police detective Pete Sailors said information is starting to come back from evidence collected at the scene. A gun, shell casings, blood and DNA were among the items sent for analysis at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab.

However, Sailors declined to comment Tuesday on progress or to provide details from interviews with a second victim, who was wounded in the attack.

“I can’t go into particulars; it’s an open homicide case,” he said. “But it’s very important to us and we look at it almost continuously.

Shalamar Parks said she and her mother have since moved out of Rome, but she’s been keeping close tabs on the investigation.

“He was the baby of the family. It’s just us now,” she said.

The two of them held a car wash to raise money for a reward, she said, and she has been putting up flyers around the neighborhood. But someone keeps tearing them down.

“I’m posting it on Facebook now and sharing it,” she said. “I live three hours away and I can’t keep coming there to put the flyers back up. I just don’t understand why people would do that.”

There’s talk that someone recorded a video of the shooting, Shalamar

Parks said. She hasn’t seen it but she vowed to keep searching. The family is looking for closure, and justice for James Edward Parks.

“He’s somebody’s brother, he’s somebody’s father, he’s somebody’s son,” she said. “If you know what happened, you should be willing to tell.”

Sailors said they are following every lead, but he believes there are witnesses who could help.

“We feel there are people who were there, who know something,” he said. “We would like those folks to do the right thing by their community and the deceased and come forward.”

Anyone with information can contact Sailors at 706-238-5118. Tips also can be left on the Rome Police Department’s Facebook page, or on the anonymous tip line at 706236-5000.