{"id":277249,"date":"2026-05-19T22:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/277249\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T22:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T22:20:10","slug":"fight-breaks-out-after-gunman-sentenced-to-life-in-mlk-day-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/277249\/","title":{"rendered":"Fight breaks out after gunman sentenced to life in MLK Day shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT PIERCE, Fla. \u2014 Kemmye Riccardo Parson was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for the 2023 shooting at an MLK event<\/a> in Fort Pierce that took the life of 29-year-old Nikkitia Bryant. <\/p>\n

Parson, 31, was found guilty<\/a> in February of second-degree felony murder, attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. <\/p>\n

WATCH OUR COVERAGE: <\/p>\n

Gunman sentenced to life in 2023 shooting at MLK Day event<\/p>\n

WPTV’s Tyler Hatfield was in the courtroom for the sentencing, and reports Parson was sentenced to life in prison on the first and second counts, to be served concurrently, and received 15 years maximum for the third count. <\/p>\n

After the sentencing, emotions ran high and an altercation broke out in the hallway of the St. Lucie County courthouse, between those familiar with Parson and Bryant’s family and friends. St. Lucie County deputies had to disperse the crowd. <\/p>\n

Bryant, a mother, was killed<\/a> at a 2023 MLK Day event at Ilous Ellis Park, and was one of eight people shot<\/a>. Parson was arrested in Tampa<\/a> two months after the shooting. <\/p>\n

\"Nikkitia<\/p>\n

Supplied By Family<\/p>\n

Nikkitia Bryant, 29, was killed in a Jan. 16, 2023 shooting at Ilous Ellis Park in Fort Pierce.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said Parson didn’t directly shoot Bryant, but participated in the shooting that killed her and injured others. That shooter has still not be identified. <\/p>\n

Bryant’s mother, Nikkiti White, tells WPTV she feels justice has been served, but wants investigators to continue searching for anyone else involved that day. <\/p>\n

“We still have a long ways to go, but this part is over with,\u201d said White. \u201cWe still want the other people, but this part is over with.”<\/p>\n

Bryant was shot in front of her 9-year-old daughter. <\/p>\n

“She’s still struggling. The older she gets, I think the worse it gets for her,” said White. <\/p>\n

WATCH: Altercation after sentencing in MLK Day shooting<\/p>\n

Fight breaks out after sentencing in MLK Day shooting<\/p>\n

“She’s never coming back,\u201d said White. \u201cHis family get to go visit him, his family gets to say happy birthday. We have to go to a grave.” <\/p>\n

Now, White said, she\u2019s trying to move forward.<\/p>\n

“Before I couldn’t say that she was resting. Now I can say that she’s resting,\u201d said White. “I have to stay strong for my grandbaby.” <\/p>\n

The St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office says this is still an active investigation, but they have exhausted their leads. They ask anyone with information to contact them. <\/p>\n

\"REP_CARD_TYLER-HATFIELD_PORT-ST-LUCIE-_FS.jpg\"<\/p>\n

WPTV<\/p>\n

MORE COVERAGE: <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Fort Pierce<\/p>\n

Security company’s services canceled before MLK event where shooting occurred<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

Fort Pierce<\/p>\n

Fort Pierce police beef up patrols for MLK weekend year after shooting<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

Fort Pierce<\/p>\n

Fort Pierce city leaders won’t let tragedy stop positive momentum<\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n<\/p>\n

Fort Pierce<\/p>\n

After 8 shootings, Fort Pierce police are rolling out a new solution<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FORT PIERCE, Fla. \u2014 Kemmye Riccardo Parson was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for the 2023 shooting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":277250,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[118298,118299,3361,118300,118301,171,173,172],"class_list":["post-277249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-port-st-lucie","tag-ilous-ellis-park","tag-kemmye-parson","tag-life-sentence","tag-mlk-holiday-event","tag-nikkitia-bryant","tag-port-st-lucie","tag-port-st-lucie-headlines","tag-port-st-lucie-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}