Alleged killer taken to Mississippi
Published 12:00 am Wednesday, July 2, 2003
Two Mississippi men who left their state after a shooting incident are on their way back home.
According to Dallas County District Attorney Ed Greene, Decorus Parker and Garrick Lee, both of Canton, Miss., waived their extradition hearing Monday before Dallas County District Court Judge Nathaniel Walker. Canton law enforcement authorities arrived in Dallas County Monday evening to return the men.
Lee, 20, is charged with murder first degree in a June 4, 2003, incident. Parker, 21, is charged with accessory after the fact and aggravated assault.
According to Jackson, Lee Henry Tate, 20, allegedly shot Hurley Archie, 20, 15 times at a barbecue in Canton. Jackson said Mississippi authorities were charging Lee with shooting Archie afterwards.
Lee and Parker allegedly left the scene after the shooting. Parker, the driver, allegedly injured bystanders as the pair drove away.
Selma Police Department officers located Lee and Parker June 26 at a Heritage Hills apartment and arrested both.
Assistant District Attorney Mitzi Johnson-Theodoro said people usually fight extradition because it’s another avenue to avoid accountability to charges in another state. &uot;These guys said they were just wanting to go back,&uot; Johnson-Theodoro said.
Jackson said if his clients had not waived extradition proceedings, an extradition hearing would have been scheduled. Evidence showing why the men shouldn’t have been returned would have been presented and a decision made by Walker.
The defendants’ decision to waive that hearing, though, made an extradition hearing moot.