A teenage gang member pled guilty Tuesday to murdering an innocent bystander during an Aug. 15, 2014 gang fight at Statesboro’s Park Place Apartment complex.

The gang-related conflict began days earlier at Statesboro High School over a stolen Rice Krispie Treat, according to court reports.

Lester Parrish Jr. of Harvey Drive, was sentenced by Bulloch County Superior Court Judge John R. Turner to life with parole, said Ogeechee Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Daphne Totten.

Parrish, 19, who admitted guilt in a documented confession the day after fatally shooting 46-year-old Eric Reese, pled guilty to felony murder, aggravated assault, and violation of the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.  Turner handed down a sentence of life in prison for the felony murder charge, and a sentence of 15 years, served concurrently, on the gang-related charge, she said

A maximum sentence would have been life without parole, or life plus 20 years, Totten said. According to the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Parole, Parrish likely would serve 30 years before being eligible for parole.

Parrish’s guilty plea Tuesday preempted jury selection for that day, with trial dates scheduled for next week. Parrish was represented by Savannah attorney Richard Darden.

Rice Krispie Treat and murder

In an indictment, Parrish, who was a Statesboro High School student at the time of Reese’s murder, was charged with being a member of the Bloods Gang and for going to Park Place with other gang members to engage in a fight against the Crazy Eights, a rival gang, Totten said.

“During the fight between the two gangs, Parrish brandished a Luger 9mm pistol and fired into the crowd multiple times when Eric Reese was shot in the chest and died from his injuries,” she said.

Reese was not involved in the fight. An investigation by Statesboro Police Det. Kevin Weatherly “revealed that … Reese had returned home from work shortly before the shooting and went to look for his daughter, who had walked to the back of the Park Place complex to watch the fight between the two gangs. Reese was riding his bicycle and looking for his daughter when he was shot in the chest by one of the rounds fired by Parrish,” Totten said.

Parrish reportedly fired three times and tossed the gun, which he was given by another teen, into bushes near the apartment complex. The unidentified teen who gave Parrish the gun got it from the Bloods gang leader Shearson Dowling, who was later arrested, she said.

“During an interview …Parrish admitted to firing the gun and killing Eric Reese,” Totten said. “(He) stated that as the fight was going on people in the crowd were yelling ‘shoot, shoot, shoot’ and he responded by firing three rounds in the direction of the Crazy Eights.”

Documents from the investigation stated the fight at Park Place stemmed from an altercation earlier in the week at Statesboro High School.

“Rival gang members got into a fight at school and were suspended from school for several days. The fight between the rival gangs initially started at lunch when a student removed a Rice Krispie Treat off of another’s student’s lunch tray,” Totten said.

Parrish confessed in writing to the murder Aug. 16, 2014, the day after Reese was killed. His statement, as it was written and not edited, follows:

“My apology & blessings are sent out to the Reese family. What happen tonight was suppose to never happen & it did. I understand my head was filled with hype of screaming. But no one was suppose to die & it’s sad he had nothing to do with this situation trying to get his child in the house. I made a mistake & I will take the consequence that comes with it. Reese family I am sorry for your lost.”

Gangs in Statesboro

Reese’s murder and the reasons behind it highlight an increase in gang activity in the area, Totten said.

“This incident brought to a light the growing gang problem that Statesboro is facing,” she said. “…The Statesboro Police Department and the Statesboro-Bulloch County Crime Suppression Unit began a joint investigation into both the Bloods and the Crazy Eights and the participants involved in the fight that took place at Park Place Apartments on August 15, 2014. This joint investigation led to the arrest of over a dozen individuals for participation in the fight between the two gangs.”

Led by Statesboro-Bulloch County Crime Suppression Team Officer Jared Shababy, an effort to identify gang members of both the Crazy Eights and the Bloods led to CST investigators learning “the Bloods in Statesboro were operating under the set or section name of Sex, Money, Murder,” she said. “Sex, Money, Murder is considered to be one of the original sets of the Bloods gang…founded in 1998 in Bronx, New York by Peter Rollack a.k.a. Pistol Pete, and operates primarily on the East Coast. In the last decade, Sex, Money, Murder has made its way down the East Coast and infiltrated into Georgia and other southern states.”

Several area juveniles were charged with being in the gangs and also charged with affray (fighting) for participating in the fight at Park Place.

“It was learned that prior to the Bloods going to Park Place to fight the Crazy Eights, the local leader of the Bloods held at a meeting at his apartment. Members of the gang told (officers) during interviews that they were summoned to a meeting with a text through KIK, a messaging application.”

Gang leader

Shababy and Weatherly were able to identify the local leader of the Sex, Money Murder set of the Bloods in Statesboro as Shearson Dowling.

“Dowling was arrested Aug. 20, 2014 and charged under the Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act with being the leader of the Bloods Gang in Statesboro, and for furnishing a pistol to a minor during this meeting of the Bloods at his apartment,” Totten said. “The weapon Dowling furnished to this minor was used later that evening by Lester Parrish to shoot and kill Eric Reese.”

Dowling was found guilty of both charges after a two-day trial in April. Totten represented the State at the trial and called several witnesses, including two gang members who were present at the gang meeting led by Dowling before Reese’s shooting.

One of the gang members, 15 at the time of the Park Place shooting, testified that Dowling handed him a 9mm pistol before the fight at Park Place.

“Dowling told members at the meeting to make every shot count,” Totten said. “The pistol that Dowling furnished to this minor was later handed off to Lester Parrish, who shot and killed Eric Reese during the fight between the two gangs.”

During the Dowling trial, investigators testified that Dowling admitted to being the leader of the Bloods in Statesboro and that he held regular meetings with local members. The gang charged dues, and members were physically beaten up in order to join the gang, she said.

“Dowling explained that he was originally from New Jersey and had been a gang member for the last 10 years. (He) stated he moved to Statesboro in 2011.”

Turner, following Totten’s recommendation, sentenced Dowling to a total sentence of 30 years to serve in prison. Dowling was represented at trial by Savannah attorney Chauncey Barnwell.

Herald reporter Holli Deal Saxon may be reached at (912) 489-9414.