Provided by the Harris County DA’s Office
Police booking photos of Floyd Parrott in 1988 and 1996.
The man accused of committing the “Lovers Lane Murders” in Houston appears to have died by suicide in his jail cell just weeks after his arrest, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Floyd William Parrott, 64, was arrested late last month in Nebraska and charged with capital murder in Harris County in the deaths of Garland “Andy” Atkinson, 21, and Cheryl Henry, 22, whose bodies were found in West Houston on Aug. 23, 1990.
The DA’s office told reporters last month that Parrott was challenging his extradition. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said he was notified Tuesday morning of Parrott’s death and said he likely died by suicide. However, the district attorney’s office is awaiting an autopsy and an investigation from the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the jail where Parrott was being held.
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Teare said news of Parrott’s death has been frustrating for the victims’ families.
“They feel cheated yet again by this person,” he said. “This is not the way that any of us wanted it to stop. I think Cheryl and Andy deserved their day in court.”
Kelsey Cruz, a spokesperson for the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office in Nebraska, said the agency was investigating Parrott’s in-custody death.
“We are working in coordination with the Lancaster County Department of Corrections,” Cruz said. “Next of kin has been notified. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.”
Garland “Andy” Atkinson, 21, and Cheryl Henry, 22 were murdered in West Houston on Aug. 23, 1990.
At the time of the murders, Parrott was working about 1 mile away from where the bodies of Atkinson and Henry were found, according to the criminal complaint filed in Harris County. The complaint says the couple had been together at a Houston nightclub the night before they were found dead at 1300 Enclave Parkway on Aug. 23, 1990.
Police responded after a security guard approached Atkinson’s vehicle, which had been parked in a cul-de-sac for several hours without moving, and found blood in the car as well as a purse belonging to Henry. Atkinson and Henry were both found with cuts on their necks and their hands tied behind their backs, according to the charging document.
Houston Police Department
Floyd William Parrott
Parrott was convicted of impersonating police officers multiple times in the 1990s. He was also charged with sexual assault in 1996, but a Harris County grand jury declined to proceed with that charge.
Police identified Parrott as a suspect in the murders of Atkinson and Henry by matching DNA from the sexual assault case with DNA from Henry’s autopsy.
Houston Public Media’s Adam Zuvanich contributed to this report.