What started as a routine trip to Cub Foods on Clarence Street turned into a parking lot shootout on March 17, 2024, with gunfire shattering car windows and grazing a 16-year-old shopper as customers dove for cover inside the store.
Sentence Handed Down
On Tuesday, 20-year-old Isaiah Joel Parkin was sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in the chaos, after pleading guilty to a drive-by shooting charge. He received credit for 813 days already spent in custody, according to the Pioneer Press. Court records and the sentencing order note that Parkin has a history of civil commitment and, as part of the case, he was also returned to a state treatment program under a one-year recommitment.
Co-defendants Already Dealt With
Parkin was not the only one facing consequences from the shootout. Nineteen-year-old Marquan Husten-Myles pleaded guilty to illegal firearm possession and was given a five-year prison sentence, with credit for 104 days served, according to KSTP. A 17-year-old co-defendant was charged in juvenile court with multiple offenses, including second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon, after petitions were filed, court records show.
How the Parking Lot Shootout Unfolded
Investigators say store surveillance video captures Parkin firing first after Husten-Myles and the juvenile walked out of the store toward a Kia Optima that was parked in the fire lane. Both sides then exchanged gunfire before taking off from the scene, according to reporting by Bring Me The News. Police recovered multiple firearms and dozens of shell casings from the lot and found two vehicles hit by bullets. Inside the store, a Girl Scout selling cookies was reportedly near the window struck by gunfire, and a 16-year-old later sought medical treatment for a graze wound.
Mental Health Commitments On The Record
Parkin’s court file shows he had been civilly committed as mentally ill and developmentally disabled in mid-2024, and the sentencing judge ordered him back to a state treatment program even as he heads to prison, the Pioneer Press reports. The juvenile co-defendant was later adjudicated delinquent on a second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon charge and placed on supervised probation for three years, according to court documents cited in the reporting.
Case Wraps, Questions About Safety Linger
With Parkin now sentenced, Husten-Myles serving his time, and the juvenile on probation, prosecutors consider the criminal fallout from the March 2024 confrontation largely resolved. The case has nonetheless revived talk about safety around busy retail corridors and what happens when long-running disputes spill into everyday spaces like grocery store parking lots. Local reporting and court filings are available via Bring Me The News.
