Jury recommends 11 years for Ethan Parrish in Taliaferro slaying

Williams: Taliaferro verdict isn’t justice

PDF: Taliaferro-case jury instructions

After finding Ethan Parrish guilty of a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a popular Powhatan High School student, jurors this morning recommended an 11-year prison term.

The panel recommended that Parrish, 25, serve 10 years for involuntary manslaughter in the death of Tahliek Taliaferro, 18, who was shot with a semiautomatic assault rifle June 24. If Parrish had been convicted of first-degree murder, as originally charged, he could have faced life in prison.

The jury also recommended that Parrish serve 12 months for a misdemeanor assault and battery conviction in the shooting of Taliaferro's friend Courtney Jones. The conviction was reduced from the original charge of aggravated malicious wounding, a felony that carries a sentence of 20 years to life.

Parrish's cousin, 18-year-old Joseph "Joey" Parrish, was convicted of the same two counts, as well as an additional charge of possession of a firearm by a felon. Because he was a juvenile at the time of the offense, Joey Parrish will be sentenced at a later date by Judge Thomas V. Warren of Powhatan County Circuit Court.

Members of Taliaferro's family and friends reacted with anger yesterday at the verdict.

Jean Taliaferro, the grandmother who raised Tahliek, said: "You don't know what I'm going through. I cry every day."

Commonwealth's Attorney Robert B. Beasley had argued that the shooting was intentional.

But jurors decided that Taliaferro's slaying was an accident, Beasley said.

The trial of the Parrishes began Wednesday, and closing arguments were heard Friday. The jury deliberated for six hours yesterday before reaching the verdict.

More than a dozen deputies and Virginia State Police troopers were present in anticipation of the verdict. Throughout the trial, deputies had to limit how many people could enter the small courtroom. Friends and family of the Parrishes and Taliaferro gathered on the lawn.

There was no doubt that on June 24, Ethan Parrish, armed with an assault rifle and 83-round drum clip, killed Taliaferro when Parrish opened fire on a car in which Taliaferro was a passenger. Ethan Parrish fired six shots. The first two struck the road but the next four struck the car, with one hitting Taliaferro in the head and another hitting Jones, then 15, in the back.

Jones was taken to VCU Medical Center by helicopter, and portions of his small and large intestines were removed, Dr. Ronald C. Merrell said.

Shortly before the shooting, the Parrishes, accompanied by Stephanie Reynolds, arrived at a Sheetz convenience store to drop off Margaret Ashton Bradbury at her car. Bradbury had spent part of the day swimming at Maidens Landing with the group.

Nearby, at a popular ice-cream shop, Taliaferro sat with a group of friends.

Joey Parrish and Taliaferro made no secret of their dislike and had repeatedly tried to have a fistfight with each other. Parrish disliked Taliaferro because he had physically assaulted a girlfriend who was friends with Parrish, defense attorneys said.

Joey Parrish and Taliaferro began to argue and as Reynolds drove off, Parrish leaned out of the car and yelled to Taliaferro and his friends: "If you want to fight, follow us."

The SUV that Reynolds was driving started west on U.S. 60, but at the urging of Ethan Parrish, Reynolds made a U-turn. A couple of minutes later, as the vehicle was about to turn right onto Dorset Road, Joey Parrish may have signaled to Taliaferro and his friends -- now leaving the Sheetz on the same path Reynolds had taken -- to follow them.

Friends of Taliaferro's testified that they were not pursuing the Parrishes when they made a U-turn and headed east on U.S. 60 before turning on Dorset but were only taking one of the vehicle's occupants to his grandmother's house.

Ethan Parrish said he had Reynolds pull over, hoping the other vehicle would simply drive past. He opened fire hoping to scare the occupants and never meant to hit anyone, he said.

Contact Jamie C. Ruff at (434) 223-3678 or jruff@timesdispatch.com.