Homicide victim ID'd as 52-year-old Fort Pierce woman

Will Greenlee, Treasure Coast Newspapers
·2 min read

ST. LUCIE COUNTY — The homicide victim found dead last week behind Moonswiners Bar-B-Q was identified Wednesday as Veneetia Parker, of Fort Pierce, according to the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.

Parker, 52, was found Jan. 11 in the 2000 block of Totten Road, which is north of Okeechobee Road and just east of Hartman Road in the area of Rhode Island Avenue.

Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Brian Hester last week said investigators believed the death was the result of a shooting. The body was decomposed, and Hester at the time said the incident appeared to have occurred days earlier.

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Steve Sumner, who lives just east of the crime scene on Totten Road, said that on Jan. 8 he was in Sebring and his girlfriend called him. His backyard is adjacent to where the body was found.

“There were six shots in the back,” Sumner said.

According to an incident report, a man said that on Jan. 8 about 5:45 a.m. he heard six gunshots close to the Moonswiners parking lot. He looked out the window and reported seeing a red sport utility vehicle, possible a Toyota or Honda, drive south toward the Moonswiners drive-thru.

St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office officials investigate a body found Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, on Totten Road.
St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office officials investigate a body found Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, on Totten Road.

He said he didn’t call 911 at the time because his neighbor, Sumner, “has a raccoon problem in his backyard and is frequently shooting them,” a report states.

Hester in a video update said through surveillance video investigators identified a vehicle possibly linked to the incident. It left the area about the same time as the incident occurred. It is thought to be a 2017 to 2021 red or orange Hyundai Kona.

Hester asked for help in locating the vehicle and its occupants when the incident occurred and other information.

Those with information are asked to call detectives at 772-462-3230 or Treasure Coast Crime Stoppers at 800-273-TIPS.

Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on Twitter @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-692-8936. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com

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This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Woman found dead in St. Lucie County last week has been identified