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Teens charged in death of former Tampa man

MONCKS CORNER, S.C. - Three South Carolina teens have been arrested in the death of a former Tampa man earlier this year, Berkeley County sheriff's deputies said.

A backhoe driver found the body of David Parrish, 46, in a ditch just outside the Moncks Corner town limits on Jan. 4. Parrish had been living in a motel two blocks away, while working at a construction site in the area, relatives told local news reporters.

Walter M. Bash, 17, Curtis T. Shine, 19, and Askari R. Dash, 19, were arrested and charged with first-degree lynching, the state's term for a crime by a "mob" of two or more people that results in death or serious injury.

Sheriff's deputies originally thought Parrish's death was drug-related, because he was found in a high drug area, and he only showed one tiny visible cut.

But an autopsy later indicated that Parrish died from blunt-force trauma, Coroner Glenn Rhoad said.

And while Parrish had been in and out of jail 14 times in Tampa and Jacksonville between 1986 and 2003 on charges that included dealing cocaine, toxicology tests showed no traces of drugs or alcohol.

Investigators got a tip on the death while investigating a shooting death in June, Rhoad said.

Investigators do not think the cases are related.

"A few of the people in the community came up to me and some of the other officers at the scene and said they knew something about the case," Rhoad said. Authorities did not discuss a possible motive.

Times staff writer Alexandra Zayas and reports from The Post and Courier (Charleston, S.C.) contributed to this report.

[Last modified September 17, 2005, 02:15:31]