Poplarville woman charged in triple murder

Published 8:16 pm Thursday, August 17, 2006

A 31-year-old Poplarville woman who has been listed as missing by the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department is being held without bond in relation to a triple homicide in Clewiston, Fla.

Ruby Yolanda Parker was detained Wednesday in Clewiston, Fla. by the Clewiston Police Department during an investigation into the deaths of three people in that city.

A spokesperson at the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office Jail Division says Parker has now been charged with three counts of pre-meditated murder and is being held at the county jail in Labelle, Fla. A hearing is set for 9 a.m., Sept. 11, according to the information.

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Parker was reported by family members as having been last seen in the company of a Richard Harry Harker of Hawthorne, Fla. Harker is reported to have been in the area in relation to storm cleanup.

According to a release from the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department, during the investigation into the murders of the three Clewiston residents, Harker killed himself after pursuit by local law enforcement. Parker was taken into custody at the time, the release states.

According to information from the Sheriff’s Department, Parker was reported by the family to have been missing since Aug. 4. Poplarville Police Department Police Chief Charles Fazende says one of his officers reported seeing the couple as late as last week.

Clewiston police had discovered the three bodies, two females and a male, at a home at 231 West Avendia Del Rio in Clewiston after receiving a 911 call, according to the Sheriff’s release. Subsequent investigation led to a missing vehicle of one of the victims, the release states, and a possible location at the Big Cyprus Indian Reservation in Florida.

On finding the vehicle, police reports indicate a pursuit of the vehicle with two occupants began. In the Sheriff’s release, the chase ended when the suspects vehicle rammed two Seminole Police cruisers. As officers were demanding the male suspect, later identified as Harker, to get out of the vehicle, he committed suicide by a gunshot to the head.

Sheriff Department’s information show Harker earlier had served time in Florida for murder.