Voltaurus Parchman

Voltaurus Marquis Parchman was a 22-year-old father and store manager living in Forrest City, Arkansas. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 19, 1979, he was known by his loved ones and in his community. He was the father of a daughter named Briana. His life was cut short by gun violence in the winter of 2001, leaving his family to grapple with a sudden and violent loss.

On the evening of December 18, 2001, Voltaurus was fatally shot in Forrest City. The specific details of what led to the shooting are not widely available in public records, but the event marked a tragic end to a young life. His death was part of a series of violent crimes that had shaken the community. The investigation into his murder would eventually connect his case to a string of other homicides in the area, revealing a pattern of violence that had been plaguing St. Francis County.

The Forrest City Police Department investigated the homicide. The case did not remain cold for long, as investigators soon linked it to a separate triple murder that had occurred just weeks earlier. The investigation into those deaths led authorities to identify several suspects, including a man named Jimmy Mills. As the case against Mills and his co-defendants developed, his involvement in Parchman's death also came to light.

In November 2003, the case reached a resolution in court. Jimmy Mills, then 32 years old, pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of Voltaurus Parchman. This plea was part of a larger agreement in which Mills also admitted guilt in a triple slaying that took place 21 days before Parchman was killed. In that earlier incident, Dylan A. Boyd, Carl Boyd, and DeWayne Stewart were murdered. Mills had initially been charged with capital murder for their deaths but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of first-degree murder.

For each of the two murder convictions—one for the triple homicide and one for the murder of Voltaurus Parchman—Mills was sentenced to 40 years in prison. The judge ordered the sentences to be served concurrently. Two other men, Steven Neal and Kevin Mosby, also negotiated guilty pleas to lesser charges for their roles in the triple slaying.

The conviction of Jimmy Mills brought a legal conclusion to the case, confirming he was responsible for the shooting death of Voltaurus Parchman. While the court proceedings provided a measure of justice, they could not erase the pain and loss experienced by Parchman's family and friends. The case is considered solved and closed following Mills's guilty plea and sentencing in November 2003.

Years later, the name Voltaurus Parchman Jr. appeared in unrelated news reports from Forrest City. In February 2022, Voltaurus Parchman Jr. was arrested in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and charged with the first-degree murder of Kenyatae Chism, who was shot and killed on Christmas Day in 2021. This separate and distinct case involving a person with a similar name highlights a continuing cycle of violence in the community, long after the 2001 murder of Voltaurus Marquis Parchman was adjudicated.