FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A man was convicted Friday in a fatal shooting that claimed the life of a 29-year-old mother and injured several other people during a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration in Fort Pierce three years ago.
Kemmye Riccardo Parson of Fort Pierce, who is now 31, was found guilty of second-degree felony murder, attempted first-degree murder with a firearm and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
WATCH BELOW: Suspect found guilty in fatal shooting at Fort Pierce MLK event
Parson was arrested in Tampa two months after the shooting. He now faces life in prison.
Nikkitia Bryant was killed Jan. 16, 2023, while she was celebrating the MLK holiday with her daughter. She was one of eight people shot at Ilous Ellis Park near Avenue M and 13th Street.
WPTV reporter Ethan Stein was with Bryant's family in the courtroom when the verdict was read.
Family members hugged each other and cried. Parson didn't react to the jury's decision.
Bryant's mother, Nikkiti White, flashed a smile.
The Fort Pierce mother left the courtroom wrapped in a hug after a jury convicted Parson.
Before the verdict was read Friday afternoon, White said the trial has been difficult because she’s had to relive details about the shooting, and learned new details from unseen autopsy photos. She said she thinks the prosecution is doing a good job to achieve a guilty verdict, but she’s continuing to grieve her daughter’s death during the trial.
“Sometimes you just want to run and get away,” White said. “It’s hard. It’s bringing back the emotions and the emotions never go away. But, it kind of dies down but it brings it all back up.”
She also said she’s urging law enforcement, Fort Pierce police and the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, to continue to investigate the case because prosecutors said Parson didn’t directly kill Bryant; rather, Parson participated in the fight that led to Bryant’s death.
Parson faces life in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 24.
“You can finally start to heal now,” a friend whispered as White flashed a smile.
Fort Pierce park shooting: What St. Lucie County has changed 3 years after the deadly attack
Three years after the mass shooting at Ilous Ellis Park, St. Lucie County has made changes aimed at preventing another tragedy — but for White, the progress comes at too high a cost.
Last year, Bryant's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against St. Lucie County, the city of Fort Pierce, city and county commissioners, former Sheriff Keith Pearson, Be Xquisit and Give Back 2 Kids Inc. — the organizer of the MLK event.
The lawsuit alleges the permit for the event at the park required private security, but organizers "canceled a security contract… leaving the event with insufficient security personnel." It further alleges that "governmental entities failed to enforce the requirement in order to proceed with the event."
WPTV dug into county records to learn what has changed in the last three years. The county added cameras and license plate readers to five parks in a $250,000, five-year investment.
St. Lucie County Commissioner Cathy Townsend said the county is now "hyperfixated" on communication following the MLK Jr. Day shooting. She said the sheriff's office knew a law enforcement detail had been canceled but did not inform the county, which may have allowed the event to be canceled.
"There's better communication now that hopefully that will never happen again," Townsend said. "Now there's great communication between the sheriff's department and the county. So if that would to happen again, and somebody was to cancel, somebody would notify the county to say they've canceled it, just making sure you're aware. When before that relationship wasn't there."
When WPTV shared Townsend's comments with White, her response was emotional.
"Ugh… hurtful in a sense because it took my daughter's life to make that change….Yeah…It took her to die to do what should have been done," White said.
The sheriff's office, county staff and the city of Fort Pierce all declined to comment, citing pending litigation. But attorneys for Sheriff Richard Del Toro have filled a motion to dismiss the charges.
“As a matter of policy and in order to preserve the integrity of the legal process, we are unable to provide any statements or additional information regarding the matter at this time,” wrote Lt. Andrew Bolonka, a spokesperson for the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist. Portions have been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
