Elmore man shot and killed, grandson charged

WETUMPKA — An Elmore County man was fatally shot in his home early Thursday morning, and his grandson is being charged with murder.

Deputies went to a home in the 1400 block of Ingram Road, in the Elmore community, at 3 a.m. Thursday on a person shot call, Sheriff Bill Franklin said. They found Thomas Parker, 71, of that address, shot once in the chest. Parker was dead when deputies arrived, the sheriff said.

Jeremiah Long, 21, is the Parkers’ grandson and has been living with the couple, the sheriff said. Long is charged with murder, and is being held in the Elmore County Jail, Franklin said. Bond has not been set.

Long could not be reached for comment, and court records show he doesn’t have an attorney.

“The grandson, Mr. Long, has a long history of drug abuse and addiction,” Franklin said. “The Parkers recently went to Georgia to pick up Mr. Long and brought him back to live with them. Our investigation shows that Mr. Long and his grandparents became involved in an argument in the early morning hours of Thursday, because Mr. Long wanted the keys to the Parkers’ van.

“When Mr. Parker got up out of bed, he was shot once in the chest.”

Long had allegedly taken both of the Parkers’ phones earlier, but his grandmother was able to keep a phone that she hid in their bedroom.

“After Mr. Parker was shot, the grandmother could not call us immediately,” Franklin said. “It can be argued that if help had been able to have been sent to the home earlier, that Mr. Parker may still be here with us. Mrs. Parker was able to call a relative about an hour after the shooting, and that’s how we got the call from dispatch.”

This is Elmore County’s first homicide of 2022.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Elmore man shot and killed; grandson charged