JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Tyree Parker pled guilty to the murder of Jacksonville Coast Guardsman Caroline Schollaert, the Florida State Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.
Police said Parker was breaking into Schollaert's car, and she confronted him. He's now plead guilty to shooting and killing her during this confrontation.
These crimes hold a mandatory minimum of 25 years.
Parker was arrested August 10 for the incident, a week after the incident on August 3.
During the confrontation, Schollaert called 911 from her home in Riverside to report that she was holding an auto burglary suspect at gunpoint, a report from the State Attorney's office said. While on the phone, the 911 operator heard gunshots -- what police later said was the sound of Parker pulling out a hand gun and shooting her.
By the time first responders came, she was dead, the report says.
Surveillance video revealed that Parker running down the sidewalk, shirtless, and jumping into a getaway car, police stated in documents released in November 2021.
Texts and social media messages also had evidence of Parker's involvement.
An arrest warrant for Parker said police interviewed a woman who said she was not involved and told police that Parker, her friend, described running and hiding from the police on the date of the incident, the warrant says. Parker told the woman that he was picked up on the day of the shooting by a family member, according to the warrant. The woman showed police text messages from Parker from about an hour after the shooting saying "Bai the police looking for me, I'm hiding." Parker then texted the woman about hiding from the police and said "I had done shot somebody it was on gun draw. It was two ppl," the warrant says.
Police searched the woman's phone and found more messages from Parker asking her to hold his "bad" and talking about running away with her, the warrant says. He described hiding the "bad" in her back yard by a fence and talked to her about detectives being at her home questioning her about what she told the police, the warrant says.
"I was waiting in the shed for them to leave by they ain't leave till after I had done left," Parker messaged the woman, according to the warrant, referring to the police on scene talking with her.
Police then searched the woman's back yard and found a blue bag by a fence, the warrant says. The bag matched a blue strap found at the crime scene. Inside the bag, police found a Ruger LCP .380 semi-automatic pistol and a wallet with Parker's driver's license, EBT card, Social Security card and credit card, which all had his name on them, according to the warrant. The firearm was test fired and the markings on the shell casings matched the shell casings recovered at the scene of the shooting, the warrant says.
Judge Meredith Charbula will sentence Parker during a hearing the week of Oct. 4, 2022.