Police Make Arrest In Teen's Slaying

WBALTV.com

Police said they have arrested a convicted murderer that they'd been seeking in connection with the death of a 15-year-old boy.

Baltimore city police confirmed that Dante Parrish, 35, was caught at around 10 p.m. Thursday -- covered in mud -- at a 7-Eleven near Moravia Road and Truesdale Avenue in the northeast section of the city, less than three miles from where the boy's death occurred.

Police said they took him to headquarters for questioning by homicide detectives, where he eventually confessed to killing the teen.

Investigators said Parrish is responsible for the death of Jason Mattison Jr., 15, at his home on Tuesday. The teenager had been gagged with a pillowcase and then stabbed in the neck and head with a box cutter. A police spokesman said the boy was also raped.

Parrish is expected to be charged with a number of crimes, including first-degree murder, first-degree sexual assault and sodomy.

Police said the public's assistance, U.S. Marshals and the FBI all helped in finding him.

"We got a lot of tips. The public was very helpful, calling in, and we appreciate their help," said police spokeswoman Officer Nicole Monroe.

The family told 11 News that Parrish was a family friend and that they knew he was a convicted murderer but never thought he'd do someone like that to a friend.

"They didn't have any idea that he was capable of something like that, otherwise he'd of never ever been around anybody's children," said LaQuanna Copelin, the victim's cousin. "I haven't been able to sleep because I'm afraid he might come back. (He's a) crazy maniac, so I don’t even know what he's capable of."

"I want them to know (Jason) didn't deserve what he got. He was a child, and he deserved to be protected," Copelin said.

Prosecutors said he pleaded guilty to killing a drug dealer in 1999 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. A city judge granted him a new trial in 2008, due to a technicality. Prosecutors said they didn't have enough evidence to retry him because the murder weapon was no longer in evidence storage.

"One witness who recanted was being held on a homicide charge in city jail," said Marty Burns, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office. "The other witness recanted her testimony as well."

Parrish then struck another deal with the state. Once again he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He had already served 10 years in prison, so he walked free in January.

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