Fayetteville murderer sentenced again
COLUMBIA, S.C. — A Fayetteville man who threatened law enforcement during a standoff at Columbia Mall last year has been sentenced to nearly nine years in prison, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney here.
James Jacob Parrish Jr., 36, pleaded guilty in November to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
In 2005, Parish was convicted in Cumberland County Superior Court of second-degree murder in the May 2002 slaying of Dwan Lee Daugherty Riley. He was released on parole in 2015, state prison records show.
In Columbia, evidence presented in court established that about 8 p.m. on March 26, 2017, Richland County sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to reports of an alarm and shots fired at Columbia Mall on Two Notch Road, according to the statement from U.S. Attorney Sherri A. Lydon. The mall was closed at the time.
Deputies located a vehicle registered to Parrish that had a flat front tire and was parked in the median of the mall parking lot, the statement said. Deputies noticed bullet holes in the glass door of the Sears Automotive Department and spent 9mm shell casings lying on the sidewalk in front of the door.
The sheriff’s Special Response Team found Parrish barricaded inside a room and tried to persuade him to surrender, the statement said. Parrish threatened to shoot the officers, who entered the room and found him pointing a loaded handgun at them. The response team was able to safely arrest Parrish, who was taken to a hospital and treated for a foot injury suffered when he fell through a ceiling.
At the hospital, Parrish twice attempted to take a handgun from a deputy, according to the statement.
He was sentenced to 105 months in prison and three years supervised release, according to the statement.
Parrish has an extensive criminal record in North Carolina.
Staff writer Greg Barnes can be reached at gbarnes@fayobserver.com or 486-3525.
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