Community mourns homicide victim

Hundreds gathered Friday afternoon at the First Church of God in Christ to mourn the loss of Tony Parker, a 31-year-old Clovis man slain the morning of Aug. 21 near the Clovis Apartments.

Friends and relatives packed into the small church to pay their last respects to a man widely known in the community as a devout and generous Christian man. Mourners filled the choir loft, auditorium, and lined all the walls of the sanctuary, and even more were forced to stand in the hallway outside.

Rev. Terry Martin, pastor of Triangle Baptist Church where Parker was a deacon, delivered a eulogy about the man he knew and loved as a servant of all people.

“He was a soft-spoken man who had reverence for the Lord,” Martin said in his eulogy. “We wonder how something like this could happen to such a good person. Although this is a tragic thing, the Lord will work it out.”

No arrests had been made in connection with the case by Saturday.

Martin said the huge turnout at the funeral demonstrated how much Parker was liked in the church community, and how everyone who knew him wanted to be near him.

“He loved the Lord and he loved mankind,” Martin said. “Everyone who met him wanted to be around him.”

When Staff Sgt. Matthew Jimerson first came to Cannon Air force Base five years ago, Parker was one of the first people he met in Clovis. The two of them used to play basketball together.

“Every time I saw him, he was coming from church,” said Jimerson, a Pennsylvania native. “I can’t even remember him arguing with anybody.”

During the funeral service, friends and family spoke about what Parker meant to each of them. A recurring theme throughout the remarks was Parker’s infectious smile.

“There is nobody in here that Tony did not smile at,” one remarked.

After a tearful recessional, many of the mourners drove to the graveyard for a short graveside service led by Martin.

Clovis police have not named any suspects in the shooting, but said the investigation was going in the right direction.

“We’ve talked to more people,” Detective Roger Grah said. “We’ve been beating the bushes. It’s getting closer.”