Man killed in drive-by shooting

PARKER A Blacksburg man charged in the shooting death of a Gaffney man Friday afternoon was convicted of voluntary manslaughter 10 years ago.

Travis Sentell Parker, 27, of 131 Boland Road, Blacksburg, was sentenced to 10 years for voluntary manslaughter for his role in the March 1997 shooting death of his 17-year-old girlfriend Danisha Evette Garret, according to a state criminal records check on the S.C. Law Enforcement Division (SLED) Web site.

Parker did not serve the entire sentence before he was released from prison.

Parker was charged with marijuana possession on April 27, 2006, according to SLED. He was arrested on a charge of possession of 28 grams or less of marijuana.

Parker was charged with murder Friday hours after a shooting occurred on Sarratt Avenue in Gaffney.

Maraine Charles Edward Foote, 27, of 172 Concord Heights, Gaffney, died at 6:24 p.m. in the emergency department at Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler said. Foote was shot once in the chest.

Foote was struck by a gunshot fired from a passing vehicle while standing in the street in the 300 block of Sarratt Avenue.

FOOTE Parker surrendered to authorities Friday night at the Cherokee County Detention Center, Gaffney Police Chief John O'Donald said.

Parker remains jailed awaiting a bond hearing.

"He understood we were looking for him," O'Donald said.

O'Donald could not comment on how police determined Parker was a suspect.

"I have no idea on a motive," O'Donald said. "I believe they were acquaintances."

Foote also has a prior criminal record, O'Donald said.

This is the second time Parker has been charged in a shooting death over the past decade.

Parker was originally charged with murder in the shooting death of Garret on March 5, 1997.

Garret died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head at the residence where she lived with Parker. Two other teenagers were involved in the shooting incident, records show.

The murder charge against Parker was reduced to voluntary manslaughter. He was sentenced to 10 years on that charge in May 1997.