Mt. Washington man gets 5 years in prison for having gun that killed 3-year-old girl

A defense attorney argued on Tuesday that her client should be sentenced based on the crime he’d pleaded guilty to — not ones committed in the past, or one he might have committed but was never charged with.

A prosecutor countered, telling the judge that he needed to look at the entirety of Paul Anthony Parrish’s character and background. He had pleaded guilty simply to being a felon in possession of a gun.

But that gun, Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Maloney told the court, got into the hands of a 3-year-old girl who killed herself with it.

Before that happened, the prosecutor continued, Parrish, 45, had served lengthy terms in prison for previous convictions including voluntary manslaughter for shooting someone to death; aggravated assault for stabbing two people; fleeing and eluding and gun possession.

“Mr. Parrish, by virtue of his record, is a violent, repeat offender,” Maloney said. “He still has not gotten the message. It’s a continual series of serious felonies, followed by long periods of incarceration and then serious felonies.

“At some point, the courts really have to look at protecting the community.”

U.S. District Judge Mark Hornak sided with the prosecution. Although the advisory guideline range in the case was 46 to 57 months, he ordered Parrish to serve 68 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

“Your past catches up to you,” the judge said. “So far, you’ve not demonstrated a consistent willingness to respect the law. Only you, Mr. Parrish, can answer the question: When is enough, enough?”

According to investigators, 3-year-old Yasha Ross died on March 12, 2017, after she accidentally shot herself in the chest with a .9 mm handgun that Parrish had at his home on Southern Avenue in Mt. Washington. She was the daughter of Parrish’s girlfriend.

He was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and released on bond.

But two months later, when detectives again searched his residence, Maloney said, they found another gun — this one a .44-caliber Desert Eagle pistol under a pillow on a couch, with seven rounds in the magazine, one in the chamber and the hammer cocked.

Police also found body armor and about $20,000 in cash.

At that time, Parrish’s bond was revoked.

Although Parrish was never charged with possessing the second gun found in the May 2017 search, Maloney said it shows a pattern of conduct.

Parrish pleaded guilty in federal court in October 2019.

During Tuesday’s sentencing hearing, defense attorney Meagan Temple told Hornak that they’d spent more time talking about her client’s past than about the case he was present for.

“The court is being asked to sentence Mr. Parrish for things he’s already paid penance to society for,” she said. “That doesn’t sit well with me.”

Temple expressed her sorrow at Yasha’s death, but said the court needed to focus on the charge to which her client pleaded guilty.

“It takes a great measure of discipline and respect for the law to stay focused on the issue at hand,” she said.

Temple did not advocate for a sentence lower than the guidelines. She asked Hornak to consider that her client has already been in custody for years, including 15 months during the pandemic, which required those incarcerated to be locked down in their cells all day long.

“It was very, very difficult time,” she said.

For his part, Parrish spoke directly to Hornak and told him he didn’t understand how Yasha was killed.

“I could never foresee something like this happening,” he said. “It was a horrible accident. I am remorseful and forever sorry.”

Though Parrish admitted he shouldn’t have had the gun, he told the court that he wasn’t home at the time Yasha was killed.

“Unfortunately, my past has been riddled with incidents where a gun was necessary and almost mandatory,” Parrish said. “When you go through life like that, you kind of know no other way.”

Parrish denied, however, that the gun found in the house in May 2017 was his. Instead, he said it belonged to a man who he allowed to stay in his home.

Temple argued to Hornak that the gun found two months after Yasha died was not relevant.

“Your honor, they didn’t charge him with it,” she said.

But Hornak found that there was a preponderance of evidence to show the gun police found belonged to Parrish.

“The events of March 17, as horrific as they were, didn’t stop you from having that gun that was loaded and cocked,” the judge said.

Hornak told Parrish that he had to consider the consequences of the man’s crime.

“The reality is, when there’s a loaded gun around, bad things can happen,” the judge said. “And here, the worst thing happened. A young child is dead.”