From the District Attorney’s Office:
A reputed gang member suspected of fatally shooting a Compton youth minister in Venice last June has been charged with his murder, along with a third accomplice, the District Attorney’s Office announced.
Deputy District Attorney Teresa Magno with the Hardcore Gang Division said Hopeton Parsley, 23, was charged Wednesday with being the shooter in the murder of Oscar Duncan on June 4, 2012.
Parsley, who was arrested Thursday by LAPD officers, is scheduled to be arraigned today at Los Angeles Superior Court, Airport Division, in Department 144. Prosecutors will ask his bail be set at $2 million.
Parsley, a reputed Playboy Gangster Crip, was among a group of men who allegedly drove up to Oscar Duncan and his girlfriend, who were standing on a Venice street. Authorities say the assailants shouted a gang name before Parsley allegedly fired a single shot, striking the 23-year-old Duncan in the head. Duncan, who was not a gang member, was involved in gang intervention in addition to being a youth minister.
Parsley joins co-defendant Kevin Dwayne Green, 29, aka Baby Skull, and Nichole Sheran, 18, in case SA 080993. All three are charged with one count of murder with gun use and street gang allegations. The complaint alleges Parsley, who has prior convictions, personally discharged a handgun.
Green, who was charged in June with murder and a separate count of second degree robbery that allegedly occurred on May 21 along with one count of felon in possession of a firearm, returns to Department D on Jan. 28 for a pretrial conference. Sheran, who pleaded not guilty to the single count of murder, returns to court Feb. 20 for preliminary hearing setting.
If convicted, Parsley faces a minimum of 50 years to life in prison.