Charges detail shooting death of Billings 15-eyar-old Khoen Parker

The charges came after more than three dozen Billings police officers and detectives waded through false statements, misinformation spread online, and alleged attempts to destroy evidence. Three adults and two teenagers are implicated in the January shooting and an elaborate effort to conceal the truth from investigators, according to court documents.

“Most of the youths involved minimized their involvement or knowledge about the events or lied to the detectives either in their initial statements or throughout the investigation,” Yellowstone County prosecutors alleged in documents filed in district court Tuesday.

A 16-year-old, identified as A.G., has been charged in Yellowstone County District Court with negligent homicide. Police allege the suspect fired the shot that killed Parker. Charging documents also detail allegations he and his four codefendants lied to police during their investigation. (The Billings Gazette generally doesn’t identify minors involved in crimes.)

A.G. appeared before District Judge Ashley Harada on Thursday via teleconference, where she set his bond at $100,000. He was the second of three codefendants scheduled for detention hearings. Family and friends of Parker and the accused filled the courtroom.

Billings police responded to a report of gunfire in the early hours of Jan. 16, 2022 on the 400 block of Constitution Avenue in the Heights. About 10 minutes later, Billings Clinic staff called police saying they were treating a teenager, Parker, who was dropped off with a gunshot wound. Hospital staff pronounced Parker dead that same morning.

A witness told police Parker was shot during a fight between two groups of teenagers in a parking lot near Castle Rock park. Police found several spent bullet casings in the parking lot. Residents in the area directed officers to a home on the 500 block of Constitution Avenue where they suspected the teens had fled.

Investigators initially spoke with several people at the house, and in the ensuing months made an exhaustive effort to piece together the events leading up to the shooting, and its fallout.

“Many false leads were investigated, including leads made to the High Tide Casino, which offered a cash reward for information, and fake Facebook accounts disseminating false information…During the course of the investigation, numerous search warrants were executed, including warrants for [19] different Snapchat user accounts, [10] cellular phones and three residences,” County prosecutors wrote in charging documents.

A group of teens goaded a second group into a fight that night, court records said. The second group included Parker and A.G. Also in the second group were Jerral Lee Brady and Jesse Ray Myers, both of whom would later be charged in connection to the shooting. A 16-year-old girl, E., was allegedly the main point-of-contact between the two groups as they antagonized one another into fighting. They agreed to meet in the parking lot near Castle Rock park.

When the groups converged on the lot, according to charging documents, someone in A.G., Brady and Myers’ group had a firearm. The other group arrived carrying loaded BB guns. Evidence gathered by investigators does not indicate how the violence began, but a brawl ensued.

A third group pulled up to the scene in an SUV. Several adults were in the vehicle who tried to stop the fighting. Among them was George Robert Medina. He allegedly brought a loaded handgun, and fired two rounds into the air. In an interview later with police, Medina said he was attempting to end the melee.

Five more rounds erupted immediately after, court records said, from a different weapon. Two more shots followed. Everyone fled the parking lot. One vehicle, driven by a 16-year-old, took Parker to a hospital. A second vehicle, allegedly with Brady at the wheel, followed. Also in the second vehicle were A.G., E. and Myers. Only one person, who went unnamed in court documents, stayed with Parker at Billings Clinic. Most of the others spent the rest of the night at a house party.

During a search of the parking lot, investigators gathered two empty .45-caliber cartridges matched to the gun fired by Medina. They also found seven empty 9mm rounds. Parker’s cause of death was later determined to be due to a 9mm striking the asphalt of the parking lot, then ricocheting and hitting him in the side. Investigators have not recovered a 9mm firearm that can be linked to the shooting, according to court documents.

E.’s father reported his 9mm Sig Sauer missing about a week before the shooting. In an interview with Billings police, he allegedly told officers his daughter let two people steal the handgun during a party at his home while he was out of town. Both were later involved in the parking lot fight. That gun has not been found.

Charging documents allege A.G. stole the handgun belonging to E.’s father, and lied to police during his initial interview when he said he never left the vehicle throughout the fight in January. In a subsequent interview, court documents said, he admitted to grabbing the handgun from the center console and getting out of the Brady’s vehicle. After the shooting, A.G. said, he threw the gun under the car seat.

A search of a Google history linked to A.G. in Dec. 2021 showed he allegedly looked up “HotGunz Stolen Gun Search Results,” “stolen gun tracker,” and “what can a 9mm round do to you.” Later that same month, according to court documents, his Google history showed multiple searches related to a Sig Sauer P226, the same firearm reported stolen by E.’s father.

A.G. is facing a total of five charges for his alleged role in the parking lot fight and shooting of parker. Along with negligent homicide, he faces counts of tampering with or fabricating evidence, and misdemeanor counts of theft, riot and obstructing a peace officer.

Myers, who was 17 at the time, allegedly messaged A.G. on Jan. 14 to bring a gun in case of “opps,” using a slang term for police. He also told police in his first interview that he stayed in Brady’s vehicle during the fight. In the hours after the shooting, he allegedly messaged A.G., “just say we went with jarrel [Brady] and met up with other ppl bc that’s a y what we did.”

Police searched Myers’ home Feb. 22. In his bedroom, they allegedly found a box of 9mm Luger ammunition, consistent with the spent rounds found in the parking lot. That same day, he admitted to lying to law enforcement during his first interview, court documents said. He then told officers he saw A.G. grab a gun from the center console of Brady’s vehicle before the fight, but he did not know what A.G. did with it.

Myers, now 18, was charged with one felony count of obstruction of justice, and misdemeanor counts of riot and obstructing a peace officer. Because the alleged offenses occurred before his 18th birthday, he is being charged in juvenile court. He denied the counts during his appearance Wednesday. 

He was charged as an adult in August of this year with two counts of criminal endangerment, with a weapons enhancement. Prosecutors allege he fired several rounds from a Glock in Lake Elmo State Park, causing two people to fear for their safety. Myers has since pleaded not guilty to both counts.

Brady is alleged to have lied to officers during their investigation into Parker’s death, and deleted messages on his phone that were relevant to the investigation. He told police nobody in his vehicle had a gun. He is facing charges of tampering with evidence, obstructing an officer and riot.

Officers asked E. for her phone the morning Parker was shot, and several times after, court documents said. She would later say she lost her phone. Records of Snapchat conversations between E. and Myers allegedly showed the two conspiring to delete any evidence of their involvement in the fight, and crafting alibies to tell police. “My dad said that his gun was used to kill someone,” E. allegedly wrote to Myers on Jan. 17. He responded with “tell andy so he hides that mf somewhere.”

Charges filed against E. include obstruction of justice, solicitation for tampering with evidence and tampering with physical evidence. She was also charged with misdemeanor riot, theft and obstructing a peace officer.

Police spoke with 36-year-old Juel Rebecca Graham days after the shooting. She allegedly told officers E.’s phone was smashed, with a hole driven through it. When police still wanted to see E.’s phone, Graham said it had been thrown away and that E. was using her old phone.

During a search in March, E. allegedly admitted she lied about losing her old phone. Police seized two phones: one belonging to E., who apparently was still using her old phone, and one belonging to Graham.

Graham is accused of assisting E. in concealing her phone from police, and faces one count of obstructing justice by accountability.

In court Thursday, Myers, A.G. and E. appeared while in custody. Judge Harada set Myers’ bond at $50,000, and E.’s at $75,000. Graham, who was booked into Yellowstone County Detention Facility on Wednesday, is scheduled for arraignment Friday. A $5,000 warrant has been issued for Brady’s arrest.

The investigation into Parker’s death is one of at least eight homicide cases opened by the Billings Police Department so far this year. Of those eight homicide cases, three of which involved men shot dead by police, two have led to criminal charges. Last week, two people were arrested and charged in connection to the stabbing death of a 24-year-old man in North Park.