HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — A 21-year-old Hot Springs man was on probation for a Texas aggravated assault and living in his grandparents’ home when he stabbed them to death, according to court records filed this week in Garland County Circuit Court.
Terrance Githu Parker now faces two counts of capital murder and a possible death sentence in the deaths of Thedrit Parker, 75, and Evelyn Parker, 73, who were killed at their home at 106 Idlewood Street on July 7.
Prosecuting Attorney Michelle C. Lawrence of the 18th Judicial District East filed the criminal information on July 29. Both counts are Class Y felonies punishable by death or life in prison without parole.
The state is seeking the death penalty on both counts.
What court records say happened
Hot Springs police were dispatched to 106 Idlewood Street about 8 p.m. on July 7 in reference to a disturbance, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Dispatch advised officers that a woman from the residence was covered in blood and had said her husband was dead. She identified her grandson, Terrance Parker, as the person responsible.
A separate search warrant affidavit states a neighbor called 911 after the woman knocked on her door asking for help.
Officers went inside and found Thedrit Parker lying face down on a couch with his knees on the floor, according to the affidavit. Investigators reported a large amount of blood on the couch and floor around him. The Garland County Coroner’s Office pronounced him dead at about 9:06 p.m.
Officers also learned that Evelyn Parker had multiple stab wounds and life-threatening injuries from the same incident, the affidavit states. She was taken to National Park Medical Center, where she was later pronounced dead.
Arrest at the Regions Bank on Malvern Avenue
About a half-hour after officers arrived at the house, an officer responded to the Regions Bank parking lot at 1555 Malvern Avenue and saw a man matching the suspect description wearing a tan hooded sweatshirt and black pants, according to the affidavit.
The man walked up to officers and identified himself as Terrance Parker.
As he was taken into custody, Parker told officers he had a knife in his front pocket, the affidavit states. The officer recovered a large serrated kitchen-style knife from Parker’s front left waistband and a cellphone from his front right pocket. Both were seized as evidence.
Parker’s tan hooded sweatshirt had multiple blood stains, according to the affidavit. Officers also observed blood on his hands and wrists and collected samples.
Parker was taken to the Hot Springs Police Department Criminal Investigations Division and read his Miranda rights. Detectives tried to interview him, but he refused to cooperate, the affidavit states.
An Arkansas Crime Information Center arrest report lists the time of arrest as 8:21 p.m. at the Regions Bank address. Bond was set at $0.
Parker refused to answer nearly every question on his bail bond determination form, including prior felony convictions, employment and family contacts, and refused to sign the form or the conditions of release.
On probation out of Texas at the time
Records from the 338th District Court in Harris County, Texas, show Parker was serving a four-year term of community supervision when the killings occurred, and that his supervision had been transferred to Arkansas.
Parker pleaded guilty on Oct. 6, 2025, to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony. Rather than entering a conviction, the court found the evidence substantiated his guilt, deferred adjudication and placed him on community supervision for four years, set to end in October 2029.
Deferred adjudication is a form of probation under Texas law in which a judge withholds a formal finding of guilt. If the defendant completes the term, no conviction is entered. If the defendant violates the terms, the judge can adjudicate guilt and impose any sentence within the range for the original offense, which for a second-degree felony in Texas is two to 20 years.
The Arkansas criminal information states Parker “was convicted” of the Texas offense. Texas records show he pleaded guilty and received deferred adjudication, meaning no conviction was formally entered.
The distinction may not affect the death penalty case. The Arkansas aggravating circumstance the prosecutor invoked applies when a defendant “previously committed another felony” involving violence, and does not by its terms require a conviction.
Court records show Parker had several other Harris County cases dating to 2022. Each was dismissed or otherwise disposed of without a conviction.
Texas moved to revoke the day after the killings
A Harris County community supervision officer submitted a violation report on July 8, the day after Thedrit and Evelyn Parker were killed.
Prosecutors in Harris County filed a motion to adjudicate guilt. A judge granted it on July 9 and ordered an alias capias issued for Parker’s arrest. The document was file-stamped July 10, and the Harris County docket shows bond was denied.
The motion alleges Parker violated his community supervision by committing capital murder in Garland County on July 7.
It also alleges three other violations. Parker failed to participate in anger management treatment, according to the motion. He was $70 behind on fines and court costs as of July 8, and $140 behind on the fee for the out-of-state transfer application that moved his supervision to Arkansas.
The motion is captioned as an interstate compact case, reflecting that Texas had transferred day-to-day supervision to Arkansas under the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision.
Neither the Arkansas Division of Community Correction nor Harris County community supervision officials have said when the alleged anger management and payment violations were first documented, or whether any action was taken before July 7.
Aggravating circumstances
Lawrence listed multiple aggravating circumstances in support of a death sentence.
On both counts, prosecutors cite Ark. Code Ann. 5-4-604(4), alleging Parker knowingly created a great risk of death to a person other than the victim or caused the death of more than one person in the same criminal episode.
Prosecutors also cite 5-4-604(3) on both counts, alleging Parker previously committed a felony involving the use or threat of violence, pointing to the Harris County aggravated assault case.
On the count involving Evelyn Parker, prosecutors added a third aggravator under 5-4-604(8A), alleging the killing was committed in an especially cruel or depraved manner.
A Hot Springs police detective is listed as an endorsed witness.
Search warrants
Investigators obtained a warrant for the Idlewood Street home on July 7, signed by Circuit Judge Lynn Williams. The warrant sought forensic evidence, DNA, latent prints, trace evidence, bodily fluids, weapons and video surveillance systems.
That warrant was issued under first-degree murder and first-degree battery statutes, reflecting the charges under investigation before Evelyn Parker’s death and before the capital murder counts were filed.
Officers executed the warrant at 9:54 p.m. the same day. The return inventory lists Evelyn Parker’s wallet, a cellphone, hair, medical paperwork, a known sample from the male victim and more than a dozen blood swabs collected from a couch, a dinner table, a plant stand, a door, a trash bag, a kitchen appliance, an area under a television and the floor.
Investigators obtained a second warrant for surveillance video from the Regions Bank branch at 1555 Malvern Avenue covering 8:10 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on July 7. The warrant describes a homicide suspect walking around the business before being taken into custody on the southwest side of the building.
That warrant was executed July 20 and returned July 23. Regions Bank turned over 172 megabytes of video.
Parker is being held without bond in Garland County. Harris County has a detainer on him. A trial date has not been set.
Charges are allegations. Parker is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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