Spalding County, Georgia – A man from Spalding County has been given a life sentence plus five years for killing 11-year-old Asijah Jones, who was shot and killed as she was resting in her bed. On August 5, 2025, 23-year-old Kionta Parks of Griffin pleaded guilty to all counts related to the March 2023 shooting, including felony murder, aggravated assault, domestic terrorism, and breaking Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney Marie G. Broder, and Spalding County Sheriff Darrell Dix jointly announced the outcome. Parks’ sentencing marks a grim milestone in the state’s ongoing fight against gang violence.
Parks, a known member of the notorious street gang “Zoo Krew,” shot at a car he thought belonged to a member of a rival gang, according to police. The target was driving into Spalding Heights, an apartment complex that Parks often patrolled while armed and with a three-year-old child in the car.
Parks fired 28 bullets that night. Sadly, one bullet went through the wall of a nearby apartment and hit Asijah, who was sleeping next to her 9-year-old sister. She died at the scene. At the time, her mother and brother were also home.
“Kionta Parks is exactly what we’re fighting against each day – someone who would so carelessly take a life, destroy a family, and terrorize a community without fear or remorse,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “No parent should have to worry about their child making it through the night because gang violence is right outside their door.”
“Asijah was an innocent and beautiful soul whose life was extinguished by the evils of gang violence,” said District Attorney Marie G. Broder. Her senseless murder has deeply affected everyone who helped bring this case to a close. For her, and the many others impacted by gang activity, we will continue the fight.”
“When Kionta Parks pled today, he stood in front of a Judge, Asijah’s parents, friends, and family. He admitted to everyone in that courtroom that he killed an 11-year-old child who had her whole life ahead of her, while his whole life has been a complete failure and waste. Now, he will waste the rest of what time he has left sitting in a prison cell,” said Sheriff Darrell Dix.
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Investigators linked Parks to a history of gang violence that was getting worse. A month before Asijah died, there was a shooting at Spalding Heights that was quite similar and using the same 9mm gun. Parks also used threats to scare people and stop them from working with the police. At the same time, he was caught on camera peddling drugs and carrying a gun.
The Spalding County Sheriff’s Office was in charge of the case, and the Attorney General’s Gang Prosecution Unit and the Griffin Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office worked together to prosecute it. The state was represented in court by Senior Assistant Attorney General Cara Convery and Assistant Attorney General Ashton Jordan.
Attorney General Carr started the Gang Prosecution Unit in 2022, and it has already gotten around 115 convictions across the state. With help from the state government, the unit is growing across Georgia to go after organized crime groups and keep communities safe from violence like the kind that killed Asijah.
