Man found guilty in fatal shooting on DeSoto Street in 2020

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) – INFORMATION FROM THE CADDO PARISH DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE:

A Shreveport man who killed a neighbor during a dispute over a phone charger was found guilty of first-degree murder in Caddo County Court on Wednesday, August 21, 2024.

It took the jury of seven women and five men in District Judge Chris Victory's court just half an hour to determine that 30-year-old Joshua Parks shot and killed his neighbor Edward Lattin, 34. This was Shreveport's last homicide of 2020. The shooting occurred on December 18, 2020.

Victim Lattin was at his home in the 2900 block of DeSoto Street with his girlfriend, his girlfriend's best friend, and his girlfriend's mother when he went next door to Parks' home to get a phone charger. There, Lattin argued with Parks' girlfriend about the charger. Lattin returned home and told his girlfriend about the argument. He then went outside, where the argument between Lattin and the neighbor continued. Parks came outside, stood behind his girlfriend, and began arguing with Lattin.

Lattin and Parks were about to escalate the argument into a physical altercation when Parks pulled out a .380-caliber pistol and shot Lattin as he turned to run away. According to witnesses, Lattin fell face-first to the ground after Parks fired the gun. Parks walked over to Lattin and shot him several more times, including in the back of the head. Lattin was shot eight times in total. Parks then fled with the pistol. When he later turned himself in at the Caddo Correctional Center, Lattin's DNA was found on his bloody shoes.

When Parks returns to Judge Victory's court on September 4, 2024, he faces a sentence of life in prison with hard labor without the possibility of parole, release from custody or suspension of sentence.

Parks was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Kodie K. Smith and Bill Edwards. His defense attorney was Sean Landry.

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