ASP investigate deadly shooting at Holly Grove Day celebration

Arkansas State Police are now investigating a shooting during a celebration in Holly Grove that left one person dead and two others injured.

HOLLY GROVE, Ark. — At the request of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and the Holly Grove Police Department (HGPD), Arkansas State Police are now investigating a deadly shooting in Holly Grove.

According to reports, a shooting happened at the intersection of Dr. Herd Stone and Smith on May 25, as the community was gathered for a Holly Grove Day celebration in town.

The shooting left one person, identified as 24-year-old Shanautica Parks, dead and two others injured.

Police also said the 19-year-old woman and a 49-year-old man were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening gunshot wounds.

Mayor Willie Stokes addressed the incident, calling it a devastating loss for the community. “Unfortunately, a young lady lost her life last night on some nonsense stuff,” she said. “It wasn’t called for.”

Stokes shared that she had known Parks personally, saying, “I taught her in the second grade, and she finished school. She started here, but we consolidated. Before she finished, we consolidated with Claire, and she was an excellent basketball player.”

The shooting occurred during what some residents recognized as “Holly Grove Day,” a community event that Stokes and the city council banned last year due to repeated violence. 

“They started fighting, they started shooting, and no one got hurt, but we’re going to ban just because we didn’t want any lives to be lost,” Stokes said. “But unfortunately, this time it was.”

The Holly Grove Police Department responded quickly to the scene, with assistance from nearby law enforcement agencies. Arkansas State Police are now leading the investigation.

Mayor Stokes urged the public to prioritize safety during community events. “We need to just wake up and just—you can have fun, but don’t take weapons,” she said. 

Looking forward, she called for justice and unity: “I’m hoping that whoever that did this, and whomever, whether it was one or two, that they would be caught and brought to justice. Because there was a nonsense killing last night. But still, I want people to know—here in Holly Grove—we still love you, and we think we just need to pull together. If we pull together, we can get through this.”

However, information on any possible suspects has not been released at this time.

The body has since been taken to the Arkansas State Crime Lab to determine the exact cause of death.

The investigation into this incident remains ongoing, and we will update with more information as soon as it becomes available.

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