Bobbe Lee Parker was extremely intoxicated when he crashed a speeding car into the Christiansted Cemetery, resulting in the death of his passenger, according to court records. He was also allegedly high on marijuana and cocaine.
Parker was driving well above the 20 mile-per-hour speed limit in someone else’s silver 2015 Nissan Rogue, police said, when he smashed into a parked Ford F-150 and two concrete pillars at the historic cemetery around 1 a.m. Aug. 30.
Well-known restaurant worker and nanny Shannon Renee Gray, 39, was in the passenger seat. Neither Parker nor Gray were wearing seatbelts, according to court records.
Gray’s family members, some in Connecticut and some in St. Croix, set up a fundraising webpage to help pay for funeral expenses.
Parker, who did not have a driver’s license in the Virgin Islands nor the mainland, had a blood alcohol level of 0.299 — more than three-and-a-half times the legal limit — when measured at Juan F. Luis Hospital after the crash. It is illegal to operate a motor vehicle in the Virgin Islands with a blood alcohol level greater than 0.08.
Parker was treated at the hospital and released. Five days later he was arrested and questioned by police. In a video interview after the crash, Parker said he had been drinking beer and tequila at two St. Croix night spots but denied using any other drugs, police said.
Police subpoenaed Parker’s medical records, which revealed he had been under the influence of cocaine, cannabis, and alcohol, according to court records.
Parker, who has no previous criminal record in the territory, was charged with negligent homicide, involuntary manslaughter, reckless endangerment, driving while intoxicated, driving without a license, driving without a seatbelt, and driving with a passenger not wearing a seatbelt.
An attorney for Parker, who has lived in Connecticut, Florida, and Arkansas, said he would stay at Southgate Beach until his next scheduled court appearance, Monday.
