True Crime Today | A True Crime Podcast
Georgia Man Accused of Killing Girlfriend While Her Children Were Home
Listen on
Episode notes
A Georgia man convicted of wounding a woman in a shooting eight years ago has been accused of fatally shooting another woman on Saturday. Davante Parks, 26, turned himself in to the Richmond County jail on Sunday after authorities say he fatally shot Laquana Lang, 27, in her home in Augusta.
An arrest warrant cited by local news outlets states that Lang’s children, ages 2 and 5, were left alone in the house for hours with their mother’s body. Authorities reportedly said the children eventually had to crawl and walk through her blood to get help.
Deputies identified Parks as the children’s stepfather, according to WRDW. Facebook profiles for Parks and Lang indicated they were in a relationship.
Parks was booked on charges including murder and two counts of first-degree child cruelty, according to jail records. It was not immediately clear if he has an attorney representing him.
The Richmond County coroner’s office told HuffPost that Lang was shot at least once inside the home and was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy has been scheduled.
Court records show that Parks had been released on parole in July after pleading guilty to aggravated assault and a firearm-related charge in 2018. According to Georgia’s State Board of Pardons and Paroles, he became eligible for parole after serving a third of his 12-year sentence in 2020. However, he was not released until July, at which point he had served eight years.
Parks previously shot and injured a then-25-year-old woman at an apartment complex in 2016, reported The Augusta Chronicle. This week, McKie told WJBF she was shocked to see Parks’ name in the headlines again and that she hadn’t realized he had been paroled.
“I haven’t been to sleep since I heard he was out, and Saturday I had to find out from a Facebook post that it was him that was out,” McKie told WJBF. “Nobody told me he was out.”
McKie said her recovery from the shooting was difficult, and she had just reached a point where she felt comfortable leaving her home without needing to look over her shoulder.
A spokesperson for the Georgia parole board said that staff with local district attorneys’ offices typically work with crime victims to get them registered with the state to be notified about an offender’s parole status. No one was registered as a victim in connection to Parks’ aggravated assault case in the state system, the spokesperson said.
The state is working on a program that could change the registration process to allow state officials to directly contact crime victims and ask them if they’d like to be notified about parole updates, according to the spokesperson.
Want to listen to ALL of our podcasts AD-FREE? Subscribe through APPLE PODCASTS, and try it for three days free: https://tinyurl.com/ycw626tj
Follow Our Other Cases: https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com
The latest on The Downfall of Diddy, The Trial of Karen Read, The Murder Of Maddie Soto, Catching the Long Island Serial Killer, Awaiting Admission: BTK’s Unconfessed Crimes, Delphi Murders: Inside the Crime, Chad & Lori Daybell, The Murder of Ana Walshe, Alex Murdaugh, Bryan Kohberger, Lucy Letby, Kouri Richins, Malevolent Mormon Mommys, Justice for Harmony Montgomery, The Murder of Stephen Smith, The Murder of Madeline Kingsbury, The Murder Of Sandra Birchmore, and much more! Listen at https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com
An arrest warrant cited by local news outlets states that Lang’s children, ages 2 and 5, were left alone in the house for hours with their mother’s body. Authorities reportedly said the children eventually had to crawl and walk through her blood to get help.
Deputies identified Parks as the children’s stepfather, according to WRDW. Facebook profiles for Parks and Lang indicated they were in a relationship.
Parks was booked on charges including murder and two counts of first-degree child cruelty, according to jail records. It was not immediately clear if he has an attorney representing him.
The Richmond County coroner’s office told HuffPost that Lang was shot at least once inside the home and was pronounced dead at the scene. An autopsy has been scheduled.
Court records show that Parks had been released on parole in July after pleading guilty to aggravated assault and a firearm-related charge in 2018. According to Georgia’s State Board of Pardons and Paroles, he became eligible for parole after serving a third of his 12-year sentence in 2020. However, he was not released until July, at which point he had served eight years.
Parks previously shot and injured a then-25-year-old woman at an apartment complex in 2016, reported The Augusta Chronicle. This week, McKie told WJBF she was shocked to see Parks’ name in the headlines again and that she hadn’t realized he had been paroled.
“I haven’t been to sleep since I heard he was out, and Saturday I had to find out from a Facebook post that it was him that was out,” McKie told WJBF. “Nobody told me he was out.”
McKie said her recovery from the shooting was difficult, and she had just reached a point where she felt comfortable leaving her home without needing to look over her shoulder.
A spokesperson for the Georgia parole board said that staff with local district attorneys’ offices typically work with crime victims to get them registered with the state to be notified about an offender’s parole status. No one was registered as a victim in connection to Parks’ aggravated assault case in the state system, the spokesperson said.
The state is working on a program that could change the registration process to allow state officials to directly contact crime victims and ask them if they’d like to be notified about parole updates, according to the spokesperson.
Want to listen to ALL of our podcasts AD-FREE? Subscribe through APPLE PODCASTS, and try it for three days free: https://tinyurl.com/ycw626tj
Follow Our Other Cases: https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com
The latest on The Downfall of Diddy, The Trial of Karen Read, The Murder Of Maddie Soto, Catching the Long Island Serial Killer, Awaiting Admission: BTK’s Unconfessed Crimes, Delphi Murders: Inside the Crime, Chad & Lori Daybell, The Murder of Ana Walshe, Alex Murdaugh, Bryan Kohberger, Lucy Letby, Kouri Richins, Malevolent Mormon Mommys, Justice for Harmony Montgomery, The Murder of Stephen Smith, The Murder of Madeline Kingsbury, The Murder Of Sandra Birchmore, and much more! Listen at https://www.truecrimetodaypod.com