The estranged wife of homicide victim Garreth Parks Jr. is set for trial this fall for allegedly shooting and killing her husband on his birthday in Baltimore City’s Arlington neighborhood in March.
During reception court on Aug. 28, the prosecutor offered Rene Parks, 49, to plead guilty to first-degree murder for a sentence of life, suspending all but 40 years, and five years of supervised probation — an offer that defense attorney Tony Garcia said was conveyed earlier this week. Garcia rejected the offer on his client’s behalf.
Counsel informed Circuit Court Judge Melissa K. Copeland that all discovery was complete and there were no issues with witnesses expected to testify at trial. The parties agreed to begin Rene’s four-day trial on Oct. 23 before Judge Paul J. Cucuzzella.
On March 31, Baltimore City Police were called to the 3700 block of W. Belvedere Avenue where they found the 43-year-old victim with a gunshot wound to his neck sitting in the driver’s seat of a silver Oldsmobile in the back of a parking lot. Court documents state that a woman, who identified herself Garreth’s girlfriend, was seated in the front passenger’s seat and applying pressure to his wound.
According to Garreth’s girlfriend’s statement to police, she and the victim got to the parking lot around 10 p.m. Garreth briefly left the vehicle to speak with a friend before returning to the driver’s seat.
A short time later, Rene pulled up to the driver’s side of the couple’s vehicle in a dark green Nissan Rogue and allegedly said, “You think this is a game?” Court documents state that Rene then pulled out a purple handgun and fired once, shooting Garreth in the neck through the open driver’s side window, and drove away.
Garreth was pronounced dead at approximately 10:51 p.m. at Sinai Hospital.
Police found one 9mm live round, one 9mm cartridge casing and blood at the scene.
On April 1, the defendant was seen getting into a 2015 Nissan Rogue when police arrived at her home in Lutherville. Rene told police she was going to the Western District location to discuss the incident.
During their execution of a search and seizure warrant, police said they recovered a gun box, empty magazines with purple-sparkled base plates and several live 9mm rounds from the defendant’s home as well as one live 9mm round and a holster from her vehicle. However, the purple handgun was not located.
In addition to murder, Rene is also charged with using a firearm in commission of a violent crime and having a handgun in a vehicle.
