Donna Parker (via Galveston County Consortium)
A Texas yoga instructor is charged with murder after allegedly shooting and killing her domestic partner on the boat where they lived.
Donna Parker, 38, allegedly told police she shot Luther Figgs, 45, after he refused to let her leave the Bad Fish, the 32-foot sailboat moored at the Clear Lake Shores marina. Parker and Figgs reportedly had lived on the boat together for about a year.
Parker allegedly shot Figgs three times on Wednesday afternoon, killing him, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime from the Galveston County Sheriff’s Office.
Police say they found Figgs dead at the scene, his body “in a seated position, with his legs crossed in the corner of a couch.”
“Figgs was unarmed and there were no weapons near him,” the affidavit said.
Parker allegedly told police that she had shot Figgs. She then “surrendered the firearm that she shot Figgs with.” Parker, who apparently gave a statement to police after receiving a Miranda warning, said that she shot Figgs as he was attempting to physically attack her.
According to the affidavit, Parker said she fired at Figgs three times, “racking the slide between shots.”
Parker gave what appear to be conflicting statements to police as to whether Figgs was threatening her or not.
“Parker stated that Figgs refused to let her leave [the boat] even though she held him at gun point,” the affidavit said.
However, Parker also allegedly told police that Figgs didn’t actually physically assault her, and that he has never assaulted her in the past. She also allegedly said that Figgs was “never armed with a weapon at any point.”
“Parker’s statement as to certain facts at times contradicted each other and was inconsistent with the physical evidence located at the crime scene,” the affidavit said.
Police were apparently called to the scene by one of Parker’s relatives, according to a Galveston County Daily News report.
Parker’s lawyer, Jonathan Zendeh Del, said his client was acting in self-defense.
“The evidence will show that Ms. Parker was in an abusive relationship and acted in self defense,” Zendeh Del said, according to the Daily News. “It is too early to further comment, but we will provide more information as the case develops.”
Police have been unable to find any witnesses to the shooting or security camera video from the boat, according to the Daily News.
Facebook pages that appear to be linked to both Parker and Figgs show that the two identified each other as their domestic partner on their respective pages.
Parker appears to have made several posts to both her personal Facebook page and the page for her business, Soul Journey Yoga & Fitness, on Wednesday, hours before the shooting allegedly took place.
“Yoga is Life,” she said in a post accompanying a picture of her appearing to balance on a wooden railing. “Pure PRANA … I go to the Ocean because that is one of the creators way of transmuting energy and cleansing the negativity from the body. Give it back to creator, you don’t have to hold onto the negative. FEEL IT, PROCESS IT, THEN LET THAT SHIT GO!!!!!”
“I love you all[.] Namaste,” she added.
County records show that Parker is currently being held on $250,000 bond.
It was not clear who owned the boat, the Daily News report said.
Read the probable cause affidavit, below.
[Image via Galveston County.]