Redstone Township man held for court in friend’s shooting death
A Redstone Township man accused of fatally shooting his friend had his criminal homicide case held for trial Tuesday.
State police alleged Edmund Parson, 76, shot and killed James Tucker, 75, on May 24 in front of Ronald Woods, who is Parson’s brother-in-law and Tucker’s friend.
Woods testified that he saw no provocation before his brother-in-law shot Tucker in Parson’s living room.
“(Parsons) was just quiet,” Woods told Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele during the Tuesday preliminary hearing. “He just sat there after he first shot Jimmy.”
Woods testified he went to Parson’s house around 9 a.m. after family members called him and asked him to sit with Parsons because he’d been “talking strange” that morning.
According to Woods’ testimony, he sat with Parson for about an hour when Parsons asked him to call Tucker and ask him to come over.
“He knew Jimmy well,” Woods testified. “There were times when I couldn’t take (Parsons) to work, and he would call Jimmy (Tucker) to take him.”
After Tucker’s arrival the three men sat around Parson’s living room, mostly in silence, for over an hour, according to Wood’s testimony. Then, Parson stood up, walked over to the chair Tucker was sitting in, and opened fire, he told Aubele.
“It happened so quickly, with nothing said about it,” Woods testified. “After he got shot, Jimmy fell back in his chair holding his arms.”
Assistant Public Defender Travis Rhodes asked Woods why he did not leave immediately after Tucker was shot.
“Where was I supposed to go? I didn’t know if he was about to move or if he was going to shoot me next,” Woods responded.
Woods went on to testify that Parson was silent for about “five or six seconds” before he shot Tucker again, in what appeared to be in his stomach. The two men then sat in silence before Parson put the gun on the table, Woods testified, and he was able to grab the gun and restrain his brother-in-law.
Woods testified he asked Parson if he knew what he had done.
“He kept saying ‘I didn’t shoot nobody’,” Woods testified.
District Judge Ronald Haggerty Jr. held charges of criminal homicide, possessing an instrument of a crime, terroristic threats and simple assault lodged against Parson for trial in Fayette County Court of Common Pleas. Parson is being held in the Fayette County jail without bond.