HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Records show the man charged with capital murder in the shooting death of a Good Samaritan on Wednesday was previously charged with four felonies while serving time for an aggravated assault.
Police say Otis Parks, 30, tried to carjack 58-year-old John Donat while he was feeding the homeless outside an extended stay hotel on Highway 6 in west Houston.
RELATED: Man known to feed homeless shot and killed during attempted carjacking at motel: HPD
Parks is accused of shooting Donat as he tried to drive away.
But now records reviewed by Eyewitness News raise questions about whether Parks should have been on the streets in the first place.
He was sentenced to seven years in prison out of a possible sentence of 20 years for a 2018 aggravated assault case, records show.
Police say he stabbed his friend repeatedly after discovering his girlfriend’s baby had diaper rash.
While in the Harris County Jail awaiting his transfer to prison, records show he was charged with four additional felonies for assaulting jailers and possessing contraband.
But he didn’t end up having to serve any extra time. According to court documents, prosecutors dismissed the four charges on the grounds that he was already serving time for the stabbing.
“It looks like there’s more in addition to that,” Joe Vinas, a defense attorney not affiliated with the case, said. “There’s more that, kind of behind the scenes, that explains why they did what they did probably better than the reason that they did state on there.”
Instead, Vinas suspects prosecutors may have been wary of Parks possibly pleading insanity.
Records show that in 2020 he was temporarily declared incompetent to stand trial.
A judge declared him competent in 2021, but on the same day as the judge’s ruling, prosecutors moved to dismiss two of his charges.
They asked to dismiss a third charge a day later while another charge had already been dismissed months before his competency ever came into question.
“It could have been a strategy point by the state to just say, ‘Let’s cut our losses, we’ve got him on a pretty serious aggravated offense,'” Vinas said.
Asked to explain their reasoning for dismissing the charges, a spokesperson for the District Attorney’s Office pointed out that the decision occurred prior to Sean Teare taking office in 2025.
“We’re not able to comment on the prosecutorial decisions that were made during the previous administration,” the spokesperson said.
Given Parks’ documented history of incompetence, Vinas said that his attorney in the murder case has an obvious defense.
“Look out for a defense of incompetency or insanity,” Vinas said.
Parks’ attorney declined to comment on the murder case.
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