‘Goon Squad’ victim faces second arrest since torture

Eddie Terrell Parker, a victim of “Goon Squad” torture by Rankin County deputies in 2023, now faces Mississippi firearms charges in addition to charges in Louisiana.

According to a Mississippi Highway Patrol report, Parker wrecked his car Tuesday on U.S. 49 in Simpson County.

When trooper Jason Young arrived, he talked with Parker, who was in the ambulance, according to the report. Young quoted Parker as saying that when he tried to turn across U.S. 49, he accidentally struck another car that was headed northbound.

The report doesn’t indicate whether anyone else was injured.

Young wrote that while conducting his investigation, the Simpson County Sheriff’s Department contacted him to let him know that Parker was a convicted felon.

According to the patrol report, the trooper searched Parker’s car and seized a Taurus .45-caliber handgun and Mossberg International .22-caliber rifle, which resembles an AR-15.

After Parker was released from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, he was charged with illegally carrying firearms.

In addition to his firearms charge, Parker was charged for driving with a suspended license. He has been released on bond from the Simpson County Jail.

In Tallulah, Louisiana, he faces multiple traffic and drug-related charges, including being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In 2024, six Rankin County officers were sentenced to prison for torturing Parker and Michael Jenkins and shooting Jenkins in the mouth. The pair settled their lawsuit against Rankin County for $2.5 million.

In an interview last year, Parker told Mississippi Today that for more than a year he never left the house where he was tortured. He said he was scared to leave.

Parker has one felony conviction in Rankin County for failing to “stop vehicle pursuant to officer’s signal,” according to court records. In Alabama, he had a 2019 conviction for drug possession with intent to distribute. 

Jenkins has no felony convictions listed in Rankin County or neighboring Hinds County.