A dispute between longtime friends ended in deadly gunfire on a Lexington back porch. Parrish Scott Phillips, 49, was shot and killed on June 27, 2021, at a Freedom Drive residence where he had been staying. Officers who responded to reports of shots fired at about 5:25 p.m. found Phillips in the backyard with multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body; he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police identified 49-year-old Jabin Elliotte Trapp as the shooter. Investigators say an argument on Trapp’s back porch escalated, Trapp went inside, retrieved a handgun from his bedroom, returned, and shot Phillips multiple times. Phillips was unarmed, wore an eyepatch and was recovering from recent surgery; a forensic pathologist testified that his fatal wounds were to his back and side.

Trapp was arrested and tried September 16–19, 2024; he claimed self-defense but a Lexington County jury found him guilty of murder. He was sentenced to 40 years with no parole. Phillips is remembered by family and friends as a beloved father, brother, uncle and son often seen with his service dog Max.