FORT SMITH -- Dionte Parks was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison for his part in the 2016 home-invasion robbery that ended with the shooting death of his neighbor Kaleb Watson.
The Sebastian County Circuit Court jury of six men and six women deliberated for about an hour before returning with sentencing recommendations of 10 years in prison for the first-degree murder conviction, 12 years for aggravated robbery and 10 years for kidnapping. The jury recommended that the sentences run concurrently or all at the same time.
After dismissing the jury, Circuit Judge Stephen Tabor followed the jury's recommendation in sentencing Parks. He told jurors in sentencing instructions that Parks, 18, would be eligible for parole after serving 70 percent of his sentence. For the longest sentence, 12 years, Parks will be eligible for parole in about 8½ years.
Tabor also told attorneys that Parks would get credit for time served since his arrest Jan. 28, 2016.
All three felony offenses for which Parks was convicted were punishable by prison terms of 10-40 years or life in prison.
The jury convicted Parks after hearing more than two days of testimony and deliberating almost five hours Wednesday to reach a verdict.
Parks' attorney, Rita Watkins, appealed to jurors during the sentencing phase of the trial to consider his intellectual disabilities, his developmental problems, and that he was 15 when the robbery and killing occurred.
"You have the power to decide the appropriate punishment," she said.
Watkins reminded jurors that Parks didn't go into Watson's apartment, he didn't pull the trigger, and he ran home and locked the door after knocking on Watson's door. Parks went with his mother to the Police Department the day after the shooting and told police detective Anthony Parkinson, who had no suspects in the case at that point, who shot Watson.
Parks also did not have a full realization of the consequence of his actions because of his mental limitations, Watkins said.
During the sentencing phase, jurors heard testimony from a Charleston couple, Denny and Lynn Flynn, who testified of Parks' passion for horses and rodeos, saying they believed he wanted to grow up to be a cowboy roper. Lynn Flynn said she thought Parks had a cowboy gene in him.
They said anytime there were horses at Kay Rodgers Park near where he lived, Parks would be there. Soon, he was allowed to work with the horses and handle small chores like feeding and saddling horses, warming them up or cooling them down. He was eager to take on any task and did it well, they said.
Because of his mental disabilities, Lynn Flynn said, Parks wasn't succeeding in school but he could make a living as a roper, and she and her husband and others were willing to help him make that happen.
"We could see that was a possibility with people like that in his corner," she said.
On the other hand, deputy prosecutor Alison Houston reminded jurors that Parks was responsible for Watson's death. She said Watson befriended Parks, invited him into his home, played video games and basketball with him, and even gave Parks a puppy just days before Watson was killed.
"He sold out Kaleb for a shotgun and a PlayStation," Houston said.
He also deprived Watson's family, friends and communities in Johnson County where he grew up of a beloved friend.
"When I lost Kaleb, it was like a piece of my heart was ripped out," his father, Ricky, told jurors Thursday. "My faith is the only thing that keeps me going."
Watson's relatives, who gave statements to the jury Thursday, said they had to forgive Parks because it was part of their religious beliefs.
Watson's cousin, Alesha Wyles, scolded Parks for supplying the string used to tie up Watson and knowing Shakur Sharp had a loaded gun but doing nothing to stop Sharp and his brother from committing the crime.
"You may not have pulled the trigger ... you are the hardest to forgive," Wyles said. "You knew him."
Parks, then 15, was accused of telling a friend that Watson, a 22-year-old electrical-engineering student at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, would be a good person to rob.
The Sharps, also minors at the time, heard about the tip and showed up at Parks' home on the evening of Jan. 23, 2016, according to reports. Shakur Sharp had a 9mm Colt handgun that James Sharp reportedly had stolen from a car earlier that day.
Parks supplied the brothers with a shoestring that was used to tie Watson's hands and a tote bag belonging to his sister that James Sharp reportedly used to carry Watson's shotgun, which Parks told them was in a closet. Parks reportedly also told the brothers that Watson had a PlayStation 3 and a marijuana bong.
Parks told officials he agreed to knock on Watson's front door as a diversion while the Sharp brothers waited outside the back door. Parks then was supposed to run around to the back door, go inside with the brothers and tie up Watson.
But after Parks knocked on the door, he ran home two doors down and never went inside Watson's town house. The brothers reportedly went in alone. During the robbery, Watson freed himself from his bonds and jumped on Shakur Sharp, who had the gun.
Shakur Sharp fired the gun several times during the struggle, hitting Watson at point-blank range in the chest and leg. The brothers reportedly fled, leaving Watson bleeding to death on his living room floor while Watson's friend Bailey Smith looked on.
Shakur Sharp, 19, pleaded guilty last year to first-degree murder, kidnapping and two counts of aggravated robbery and was sentenced to a total of 50 years in prison. His brother James, who turned 18 on Tuesday, has not been scheduled for trial. He faces the same charges as his brother.
State Desk on 06/29/2018