Darrell “Billy” Parks
Photograph of Darrell “Billy” Parks, obtained from Trena Parks on Facebook.
As a tribute to Billy, please click play to listen to the above song as you read this memorial.
Darrell “Billy” Parks, 62, of Freehold, New Jersey left this world on April 23, 2020. He was a veteran of the United States Army Infantry Division who enjoyed fishing, watching car races, and going out dancing. Billy is survived by his mother, two sisters, son, three grandchildren, and a host of family and friends. He served his country and survived nearly 30 years in prison.
Billy was born on November 27, 1957 in Neptune, New Jersey. He grew up on Bond Street, where family and friends fondly conjure up memories from his childhood. Billy’s sister, Trena Parks, wrote on the tribute wall of his obituary page, “To this day we are still all connected, one bond, one family; Bond Street Squad!” She also remembers Billy’s more playful side from when they were younger, writing, “I have fond memories of all of us at Bethel Church Haley Street in the choir loft sneaking out that side door during service to go to Vanderveer's to get candy and sneaking back in and sharing the candy with the choir.”
Photograph of Billy with members of his loving family, obtained from Trena Parks on Facebook.
Billy attended Freehold Regional High School, where he participated in the wrestling program and the first boys Drill Team. In 1977, three years after his high school graduation, Billy enlisted in the U.S. Army Infantry Division, where he was employed first by the Silverton Marines and later by Marlboro Psychiatric Hospital.
Beyond his formal service in the military, Billy gave so much to his loved ones. A friend commented on his obituary page, “You were my guardian angel that always spoke up for me when I could not speak up.” Billy’s cousin, Cheryl Parks Stewart, added, “My cousin. You will be missed. All the memories I have are all so clear as if it were yesterday but yet so long ago. […] I Love and Will miss you.”
Photograph of Billy with several generations of his family, obtained from Trena Parks on Facebook.
Billy was incarcerated in New Jersey State Prison. When he died from COVID-19, his sister Trena and other supporters became his dedicated advocates. According to Trena, Billy had a compromised immune system from diabetes, high blood pressure, and hepatitis, but he received none of his Veterans’ Assistance medical benefits in prison. He had to work about 20 hours to earn enough for a $5 copay.
Despite an April 10th New Jersey executive order that established a process to grant temporary release to at-risk incarcerated people, no furloughs had been announced at the time of Billy’s death two weeks later. Trena said, “I just can’t understand why, when the [Center for Disease Control] warned that this pandemic would run through the prison and the most vulnerable needed to be safeguarded, why no one thought to safeguard those that were vulnerable.”
Billy’s family members are far from the only people frustrated with New Jersey’s prisons. Local nonprofit organizations and families of incarcerated people organized an event called “#SayTheirNames Funeral Procession & A Call to Action” on May 28 at the Trenton War Memorial. The organizers hoped to honor those who had died during the pandemic in New Jersey prisons (a count of 43 people, at the time) and demand that the state government take action to prevent further suffering and deaths. Trena was one of three speakers at the event, and she delivered a powerful speech. Sporting a wide-brimmed black hat and elegant all-black attire, she began by explaining, “I wear this hat to hide my face because I am just a voice, and it’s not about me.”
Photograph of Trena Parks at the #SayTheirNames event, courtesy of Emma Lee, by way of WHYY.
Her intentions were to spotlight the collective struggle of families and friends of those incarcerated in New Jersey prisons and to highlight the culpability of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and the New Jersey Department of Corrections. “Governor Murphy, what is your idea of protective care?” she asked in front of a supportive crowd. “Is it being stuffed into a box with eighteen hundred other individuals during a global pandemic? Is being handcuffed to a hospital bed near death considered custody? I don’t think so.” She concluded, again directing her words rhetorically to Governor Murphy about the people who had died in New Jersey prisons, “It was you who determined what their last mile of the way would be,” she declared. “But I have faith that justice will prevail.”
Photograph of a sign posted in Billy’s honor, obtained from Trena Parks on Facebook.
In this last statement, Trena alluded to “The Last Mile of the Way” by Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers, a gospel song that has been a theme of Billy’s loved ones’ grieving processes. Tyrone Mitchell, Trena’s godson, performed an impassioned rendition of the song after Trena’s speech at the Trenton War Memorial. Additionally, Trena posted on Facebook, “Darrell Parks you have gone ‘The Last Mile of the Way’, but I vow to pick up the torch of justice and run with it!!”
Video of #SayTheirNames Funeral Procession & Call to Action at the Trenton War Memorial on May 28, 2020, obtained from Davia Di on Facebook. Trena speaks at 0:18, and Tyrone Mitchell, her godson, begins singing “The Last Mile of the Way” at 4:04.
Billy has left a powerful legacy in this world, and he will not soon be forgotten. His family, friends, and community have supported him and will remember him during and beyond his last mile of the way.
This memorial was written by MOL team members Eliza Kravitz and Page Dukes with information from Trena Parks on Facebook, an obituary published by James Hunt Funeral Home, and reporting by Colleen O’Dea of NJ Spotlight, Eric Kiefer of Patch, Nicholas Pugliese of WHYY, and Insider NJ.
