Man charged in strangling death of Chicago teen Amarise Parker
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A man has been charged with strangling a 15-year-old girl last week in the South Shore neighborhood.
Joshua Williams, 24, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Amarise Parker.
Police said Williams strangled Parker on Dec. 12 in the 7200 block of South Phillips Avenue. Her body was found in the building around 7:24 p.m. the same day.
Prosecutors said Williams and Parker had been in a dating relationship, and her family had filed several missing persons reports when she would leave home. Parker had been staying with Williams for several days before the murder.
On Dec. 10, she went to the home of a neighbor of Williams, and asked to use the phone to call her mother to get picked up. When her mother went to Williams' home to pick her up, she couldn't find Parker, who called her again the next morning asking to be picked up, prosecutors said.
This time, when Parker's mother went to pick her up, she got in her mother' s car and went home with her, and told her mother Williams would not let her leave. Parker told her mother she escaped when Williams thought she was in the bathroom.
When Parker's mother left their apartment that day to pick up her other daughter from school, she returned home to find Parker gone.
Prosecutors said Parker had returned to Williams' home on Dec. 11 and stayed overnight. Neighbors heard them arguing that night, and around 7 p.m. on Dec. 12, Williams called his cousin and a friend and told them Williams was foaming at the mouth, and he didn't know what to do.
Williams' cousin called 911, and paramedics arrived to find Parker lying in a closet with a blanket covering her body, except for her head. A necklace was lodged in her throat, and her neck was red and cut. She also had scratches on the side of her face, leading to her neck.
She was pronounced dead at the scene, and an autopsy determined she died from asphyxiation and strangulation. Her windpipe had been crushed, according to prosecutors.
Police questioned Williams on Dec. 13 and released him without charges at that time, but was arrested again on Saturday, when he told police he and Parker had fallen asleep together the night of Dec. 11, and when Parker didn't wake up the next day, he panicked and called his cousin, but he denied fighting with Parker.
A search of Williams' phone revealed videos of him touching Parker's body on the night of Dec. 12. It also revealed a Google search history of over 50 searches related to strangulation, the victim's name, the death penalty, murder, how to explain an asphyxiation death, the penalty for murder and overdosing on medication, and other "inculpatory" web searches.
Williams was denied pretrial release, and is due back in court on Jan. 10.
Prosecutors said he also has a warrant out of Colorado Springs for a 2019 assault case involving strangulation.
Parker was a sophomore at CICS Loomis Longwood High School, 1309 W. 95th St.
"She was a lovely soul. Everybody loved her. Although she had been missing, but she didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve this," said Parker's mother, Yahanna Clark, after the teen was found dead.
In a statement, the Chicago Public Schools said their condolences go out to all impacted by this tragedy - and they are devastated by the loss of another young life.
Williams arrested on Saturday after he was identified as Parker's killer, police said.
He was due to appear for a detention hearing on Tuesday. He also was wanted on an out-of-state arrest warrant.
