CLAYTON • A military police officer has pleaded guilty to murdering a woman and her unborn child in St. Louis County while he was on a two-week leave from Afghanistan.
Prosecutors say Phillip C. Parish, of Moline Acres, shot 20-year-old Tabitha Buckingham twice in the head at her St. Ann apartment because he believed she was carrying his child and it might ruin his military career.
Parish, then 20 and a private first-class in the U.S. Army, got on a plane to return to Afghanistan the day after the May 22, 2011, shooting, prosecutors said. His current status with the military is unknown.
Police found Buckingham's body two-and-a-half days later, with her two-year-old daughter dehydrated and asleep by her side. Her unborn child of four months, who turned out not to be Parish's, did not survive.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/military-police-officer-admits-to-killing-st-louis-county-woman/article_71d8a046-1d45-5cb0-981f-b6ec7fb7dfb1.html
Prosecutors said Parish had gone to Buckingham's apartment with a friend, who stayed outside, but later told the friend what he had done. Police also found Buckingham's cellphone at the house of another friend of Parish. That friend said Parish had asked him to get rid of the phone. Prosecutors said Parish also discarded the shirt he was wearing that day.
As part of a plea deal, Parish's original charges of first-degree murder were downgraded to second-degree murder, with the offering of life — which amounts to 30 years — plus another 20 years in prison. Two counts of armed criminal action remained.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Quarenghi said more than 40 members of Buckingham's showed for the hearing Thursday.
"They were just very saddened by her loss, very upset," he said. "They all realized, as we did, that it was pointless killing."
Parish's defense attorney could not be reached for comment.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly characterized the terms of the plea deal.
it had to be a brother....smh at her trying to get a piece of dude check...dude thought about it and just took her own out
Prosecutors say Phillip C. Parish, of Moline Acres, shot 20-year-old Tabitha Buckingham twice in the head at her St. Ann apartment because he believed she was carrying his child and it might ruin his military career.
Parish, then 20 and a private first-class in the U.S. Army, got on a plane to return to Afghanistan the day after the May 22, 2011, shooting, prosecutors said. His current status with the military is unknown.
Police found Buckingham's body two-and-a-half days later, with her two-year-old daughter dehydrated and asleep by her side. Her unborn child of four months, who turned out not to be Parish's, did not survive.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/military-police-officer-admits-to-killing-st-louis-county-woman/article_71d8a046-1d45-5cb0-981f-b6ec7fb7dfb1.html
Prosecutors said Parish had gone to Buckingham's apartment with a friend, who stayed outside, but later told the friend what he had done. Police also found Buckingham's cellphone at the house of another friend of Parish. That friend said Parish had asked him to get rid of the phone. Prosecutors said Parish also discarded the shirt he was wearing that day.
As part of a plea deal, Parish's original charges of first-degree murder were downgraded to second-degree murder, with the offering of life — which amounts to 30 years — plus another 20 years in prison. Two counts of armed criminal action remained.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney John Quarenghi said more than 40 members of Buckingham's showed for the hearing Thursday.
"They were just very saddened by her loss, very upset," he said. "They all realized, as we did, that it was pointless killing."
Parish's defense attorney could not be reached for comment.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this article incorrectly characterized the terms of the plea deal.
it had to be a brother....smh at her trying to get a piece of dude check...dude thought about it and just took her own out
