The Bradford County DA's Office plans to seek the death penalty against Ronda Parker and Terry Parker after the gruesome death of Michael Pruitt in March.
BRADFORD COUNTY, Pa. — Bradford County District Attorney's office plans to seek the death penalty against two people who lured and killed a man back in March.
Original Story:
A Dauphin County man impersonated his ex on the phone to lure her current boyfriend to his death in Bradford County, according to affidavits filed by the state police.
Once Terry Lynn Parker shot and killed Michael Pruitt at Ronda Parker’s Springfield Township home last week, he loaded the body into his car, drove to Harrisburg, and then drove back to Bradford County to dismember the victim and burn his remains.
After, of course, they stopped for ice cream.
The details surrounding Monday’s grisly discovery in a remote corner of Bradford County were given to investigators by Ronda Parker — one of three people now facing charges for Pruitt’s slaying, charging documents show.
Terry Parker, 46, of Harrisburg, is charged with criminal homicide, along with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. The same goes for Ronda Parker, 48, of Springfield Township.
Terry Parker’s girlfriend, Summer Lynn Heil, was also arrested but is only accused of abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
"You can see that the charges against, really, all three individuals are particularly gruesome," said Bradford County District Attorney Richard Wilson.
All three are locked up and held without bail. They have preliminary hearings tentatively scheduled for March 27.
Heil, 36, of Harrisburg, told state troopers Terry Parker was angry at Pruitt, 40, because he believed Pruitt exposed himself in front of Ronda Parker’s children.
In an interview with state troopers, Ronda Parker ran through how the killing happened.
Terry Parker used Ronda Parker’s phone to lure Pruitt to Ronda Parker’s home last week. On Friday, Terry Parker shot Pruitt twice, Ronda Parker told investigators.
“He shot me, he shot me,” Pruitt said while trying to flee his attacker.
Terry Parker shot him three more times. Pruitt fell silent and died.
The pair then set about trying to clean up the evidence and get rid of Pruitt. They thought about disposing of Pruitt in a swimming hole, but ultimately decided that was a bad idea.
They loaded Pruitt’s body into the trunk of Terry Parker’s Ford Fusion and started to drive toward Harrisburg, where Terry Parker lives.
There, they went out for ice cream while Pruitt’s body remained hidden in the trunk. They collected Heil, bought a shovel and pick, and made their way back to Bradford County.
Ronda Parker set to work cleaning the bedroom. Terry Parker and Heil dismembered Pruitt and burned the remains, Ronda Parker told state police.
Heil admitted to state police she stabbed Pruitt’s body in anger and held his limbs while Terry Parker dismembered him with an axe.
What happened, though gruesome, was hardly a secret, charging documents show. Ronda Parker sent text messages to others detailing the crime, including to a pastor.
In the messages, she described cleaning gore off her walls and floors while Terry Parker cut Pruitt up in her yard.
“Then he burned the pieces at tge (sic) end of my driveway while people drove by, and his girlfriend was inside with me cleaning and bragging about how good it felt to stab a knife repeatedly into his brain,” read one message.
Terry Parker and Ronda Parker’s children also gave statements to state police regarding what their parents said.
“I’m covered in brains and blood,” read a message.
Ronda Parker’s daughter came forward early Monday morning.
The burn pit, where state troopers would soon find bones later that day, still smoldered on the Springfield Township property.
Deanna Grable lives near Ronda Parker and says she's turned Parker in to authorities in the past because of animals running loose.
"Three, four horses that they just let roam around, so we've had them stomping through our yard. With little kids, I can't just have them outside because I don't know how their animals will react. Then they had between four and six dogs just running loose."
Grable says these arrests made her stop and think about her own run-ins with the Parker family.
" Obviously, they don't like me for turning them in. It was just something to think about. You wouldn't think they would do that until all of a sudden they did."
"I don't think the public has any concern at this time, although if anyone in the area has additional information that they would like to share with the police, I would encourage them to reach out and do so," Wilson said.
Editorial note: The video below is from March 12.
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