We could have related 20-100 gun stories this week but as always there’s always one that stands out for its absolute pointlessness.
This week it is (via Law & Crime)
A 52-year-old woman in North Carolina will spend at least two decades in prison after admitting to killing her former colleague over a petty workplace squabble and then going on the lam for six months.
Tangela Louise Parker on Thursday formally pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the fatal 2021 shooting of 51-year-old Phelifia Michelle Marlow, authorities announced.
Haywood County Superior Court Judge Bradley B. Letts ordered Parker to serve a sentence of 20 to 25 years in a state correctional facility.
According to a press release from the Catawba County District Attorney’s Office, Chief Assistant District Attorney Tim Gould spoke during Thursday’s proceedings and specifically addressed the cold-blooded manner in which Parker killed Marlow.
“The way (Parker) used (the revolver) gave this victim no chance,” Gould told the court. “It’s not just a murder, it’s an execution. You see the hurt she has caused this family, this community.”
After handing down the sentence, Judge Letts spoke directly to “a large contingent” of the victim’s family and friends who had come to the courthouse to see justice served several years after the mother of two was gunned down.
“Michelle [Marlow] did nothing wrong. It’s with a heavy heart I tell you that bad things, unspeakable things, happen to good people. I wish that were not the case. Nothing that happened was deserved by Michelle [Marlow],” he said. “There’s nothing I can say today to assuage you of your loss. I cannot fill the holes in your hearts. Seeing you here today lets me know one thing: She knew only love and support from you for 51 years. Many folks don’t have that. She did, and that’s because of you.”
The victim’s husband, Justin Marlow, told investigators that his wife and Parker had a silly argument the week she was murdered. The two were said to have quarreled over moving tables in the work area at furniture company TCS Designs, resulting in Tangela Parker being sent home for three days without pay. Before the shooting, witnesses said Parker was screaming and cussing at Marlow.
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