NORCROSS, Ga. - A security guard charged in the shooting death of a 19-year-old man outside of a Gwinnett County nightclub should not have had a gun, attorneys for the slain man’s family said on Tuesday.
Chris Parker is charged with murder in the shooting death of Domiquo Riley outside the Midnight Blu lounge on October 1.
According to police, officers responded to calls of people shot near the Norcross club around 1 a.m. Responding officers found a woman with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound in the leg.
Several minutes later, police found Riley’s body inside of a vehicle at a gas station down the street from the club. He had a single gunshot wound to the chest.
Eugene Felton, the attorney hired by Riley’s family, said that Riley was leaving the club when he got shot in the parking lot.
Authorities later arrested 42-year-old Christopher Parker, of Lithonia, Ga., in Riley’s death. He’s charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, and felon in possession of a firearm.
Felton questioned why Parker had been hired as a security guard at the club.
As a convicted felon, Parker shouldn’t have owned a weapon, the attorney said.
According to the attorney, Parker had previously been convicted and served time on a rape charge.
“On [Oct. 1], conflict broke out, [Parker] made the conflict worse, introduced a gun into the fray and he was, to my understanding, wielded the gun recklessly and firing, some say, into a crowd,” Felton said.
Felton wanted to dispel any rumors that the shooting of Riley was gang-related.
“Miqo was a great kid, a friendly person,” Felton said. “If you back and look at his tenure in school, he never got in any trouble.”
Felton noted that Riley had a job and was “making headway” when “his life was cut down tragically.”
“Miqo had a lot of life left to live. He had a lot of aspirations and things that he wanted to do in life and he could have been a good example to many,” Riley’s mother said. She noted that he was a rare 19-year-old with a 401K plan.
Riley’s family has retained the services of the law firm Steward, Seay and Felton. That firm has handled previous high-profile cases including the officer-involved shooting death of Walter Scott in South Carolina and the Tasing death of Chase Sherman in Coweta County, Ga.
“Our job will be to assist law enforcement where we can, but also we’re looking at this for civil remedies against all persons who are responsible in any way, for inadequate security, negligent hiring and things of that sort,” Felton said.
Police have said that there were multiple shooters and witnesses who fled the scene the night of the shooting. They are asking anyone who was at the location that night to come forward with information about what they saw. Tips can be sent to Crime Stoppers Atlanta (404-577-8477) or directly to the Gwinnett County Police Department.
