DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Phildarious Parrish was a senior at Stephenson High School in DeKalb County who loved music and was planning to start a life in the construction business when his life was cut short, his mother said.
Parrish was shot and killed after confronting a classmate at his home in a cul de sac on Robins Nest. He was reportedly in a fight with his suspected killer, a ninth grader at the school.
“There was a fight the other day when three boys jumped him,” said his mother, Lawana Parrish. “That’s all I know. I don’t know anything.”
Parrish’s family called him “D” and said he was the baby of the family – the youngest of four kids.
“He made a lot of people happy,” Lawana said. “He liked to joke and smile and play, you’d always get that out of him no matter what. You always got a smile.”
Police said the 18-year-old reportedly went to the freshman’s house with two other students to “fight the suspect.” When they arrived, one of Parrish’s friends told police that the ninth grader, his 41-year-old father and his brother ran inside the home and grabbed guns. That’s when the freshman allegedly shot Parrish in the chest.
“However it went, they was really trying to kill,” Lawana said, with tears rolling down her face. “My son had a big wound that traveled through his back, so you had to be very close on him to do this. He didn’t have a chance.”
When Parrish was shot, his friends took him to Jessica Purdue’s house to call police. She said her son was his friend and they were both in wrestling at Stephenson High School.
“He was a good kid, they all are good kids, that’s why I’m surprised something like this happened,” Purdue said. “It’s a sad situation to learn something like this happened, with them being so young, seniors and freshmen … it’s devastating.”
She said she returned home after the shooting to find police in her front yard. Her friends were trying to help Parrish and he was taken away from her home in an ambulance. She thinks they went to her home to find an adult they could trust.
“That was one of his closest friends,” Purdue said. “He’s devastated about the whole situation.”
Purdue said she has two other children – one of whom is a freshman – and she couldn’t imagine them trying to solve a fight with guns.
“They kids, they gonna fight,” she said. “They’re gonna disagree. I can’t imagine my ninth grader coming out to confront other kids with guns.”
Lawana Parrish said the fight at Stephenson High School that apparently started the problem was recorded on student cell phone video. She said she watched the video, which was posted to social media, and that the principal has it as well.
“I’m just looking for answers,” she said. “I’ll never see my child again.”
The actions of the freshman's father and brother are still under investigation and police have not released any more information about how the boy obtained a firearm.
The ninth grader has not been identified and remains behind bars. He is expected to be charged as an adult in Parrish’s murder.
