Pastor Shot Dead by Girlfriend Was Grandson of 'Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay' Singer Otis Redding
Brandon Parker, the 33-year-old Georgia pastor who was tragically shot dead during a dispute with his 48-year-old girlfriend Saturday, was the grandson of Otis Redding, one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music.
Known for hits like "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay," Redding died tragically at the age of 26 in a plane crash in Lake Monona, Wisconsin, on Dec. 10, 1967. He was known as the "King of the Soul Singers." He got his first American No. 1 record with "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" four months after his death. Redding's son, Dexter Redding, is Parker's father, according to The Telegraph.
Bibb County sheriff's deputies said in a statement Saturday that they arrested and charged Parker's girlfriend, Tracia Hubbard of Macon, with his murder after she was found kneeling next to Parker who had suffered a gunshot wound to his neck.
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Hubbard's niece, Joslyn Clayton, told The Telegraph that Parker and her aunt had a history of violence between them and that Hubbard had been trying to save her boyfriend's life when police showed up at the scene of the murder, 739 Grosso Ave.
"When deputies arrived they found Parker lying on the ground outside the address with a gunshot wound to the neck. A female was kneeled down next to the victim. Deputies on the scene administered CPR to the victim who was unresponsive. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene," said police in a statement.
At about 1:30 a.m. Saturday, Parker and Hubbard went to a restaurant in downtown Macon where an argument erupted. The argument continued at Hubbard's house at 739 Grosso Ave., where she lived with her mother, according to the arrest warrant cited by The Telegraph.
Hubbard is accused of getting a .380 caliber revolver from her car and firing the shot that killed Parker.
Clayton told The Telegraph that when police arrived on the scene Hubbard was trying to administer CPR to Parker.
"Deputies didn't have to administer CPR because he didn't have a pulse when they got there. He passed when she was working on him," Clayton said.
Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones, who knows both Parker and Hubbard, confirmed with The Telegraph that Hubbard had medical training and had worked for two doctors.
Clayton said the couple had violent altercations before Saturday's fatal episode.
"There was actually a history of domestic abuse that a lot of people didn't know about," Clayton said. "She (Hubbard) had broken bones and was on crutches a couple of months ago after he (Parker) pushed her off a porch."
Jones, however, said he had no knowledge of those altercations.
"They must have kept it under wraps," Jones said. "I didn't hear anything until Brandon was dead."
Macon-Bibb County Commissioner Al Tillman remembered Parker as a "passionate" preacher. He had met with Parker a couple of weeks ago before his death to arrange for a proclamation declaring Elm Street as Rev. Jacob Parker Memorial Way, in honor of Parker's 87-year-old maternal grandfather, who has led the congregation at Ebenezer Baptist Church since 1967 — the same year his famous paternal grandfather died.
"He was a young man that had his head on strong, and he was a passionate pastor," Tillman told The Telegraph. "He eulogized my aunt at her passing a month or so ago. ... He was just a great young man and a great young pastor ... a young, dynamic preacher."
