By Joe Johnson
An Athens man was killed Monday in a shootout with state corrections officers outside Washington State Prison in Davisboro, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigations.
Marquavious Rashod Parks, 26, and Frank Snow, 51, of Monroe had allegedly gone to the prison to make a “contraband drop,” the GBI said in a news release.
The incident occurred at about 10:39 p.m. on the prison’s perimeter when Department of Corrections K-9 officer who were investigating the alleged contraband drop got involved in a shootout with Parks.
“One officer was hit and transported to a hospital in Augusta with non-life-threatening injuries” and later released, the GBI said. “Parks was found deceased in a nearby pond.”
According to the GBI, Snow was taken into custody at the scene and faces multiple charges that include aggravated assault on a peace officer and felony murder.
“The investigation indicates that items believed to be contraband found at the scene were intended to be introduced into the prison. The GBI did not identify the alleged contraband.
Washington State Prison is the same facility from which Parks was paroled in March, after serving time for conviction on burglary, theft, probation violation and other charges in Clarke and Jackson counties, according to the Corrections Department.
Snow also was an ex-convict, who had completed a three-year sentence at Valdosta State Prison, just 17 days after Parks was paroled.
According to court records, Snow was convicted in 2017 of bringing marijuana into the Athens-Clarke County Diversion Center and violation of probation from a previous conviction.
The GBI said after completing an independent investigation of events surrounding the shootout, it will turn over its findings to the Washington County District Attorney Office for prosecution.