Toledoan gets 25 years in prison for killing uncle

9/30/2009

A Toledo man who stabbed his 74-year-old uncle to death and then set his apartment on fire to hide the crime was sentenced in Lucas County Common Pleas Court Wednesday to 25 years in prison.

Robert Parker, 43, of 1247 Hamilton St., was sentenced for the Jan. 1 murder of Donald Lee. Mr. Lee was stabbed 48 times in the head, neck, torso, and back.

Judge Linda Jennings sentenced Parker to nine years in prison for one count each of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated burglary as well as seven years in prison for aggravated arson. He was sentenced to four years in prison for tampering with evidence and 11 months for abuse of a corpse, time that was ordered to be served concurrent to the initial 25 years.

Parker tearfully apologized to his family saying that he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time. He said he hoped that one day the family would forgive him.

Authorities said that Parker initially went to his uncle's apartment at 328 Belmont Ave. in the Albertus Brown housing complex to socialize on the New Year's Day holiday. At some point, a fight broke out between the two men.

The incident ended when Parker stabbed his elderly uncle multiple times and left the dying man on the floor. He returned on Jan. 5 with gasoline and set fire to the home.

Na'Tasha Nunn, Mr. Lee's great niece and a second cousin to Parker, told Judge Jennings not to be lenient in her sentencing because the case was one of "family versus family."

"We all can agree that Robert Parker needs to pay for what he did," she said tearfully. "He needs time to think and think until he can't think anymore about how he has separated and disrupted the family but most importantly for what he has done to Donald Lee."