KINGMAN – Formal indictments have been handed up in the prosecution of three young Golden Valley residents charged in the brutal slayings of a Chloride couple. Dustyn Wade Walsh and Tyler Susan Reed, both 19, and Johnny Ford Parsons, 20, are charged with first degree murder, burglary, theft of means of transportation and abandonment or concealment of a dead body.
Court records most of the deadly violence was inflicted by Walsh. The victims were his grandmother, Robin Hammontree, 61, and her partner Bryan Drake, 57.
Walsh told Mohave County Sheriff’s office investigators that he had a beef with Drake because Drake raped his sister years ago. Drake, however, was acquitted of child molestation and other sex offense charges at his Aug., 2019 trial.
Court records show Walsh told investigators he shot Drake six times before choking out his grandmother and slitting her throat three times to make sure she was dead. He also said he used a meat cleaver to chop off her hands because he was concerned his DNA might be under her fingernails.
The victim’s bodies were found Sept. 29 on the floor of the southeast bedroom of their residence at 8182 N Palo Verde Drive.
A search effort led to the recovery of Hammontree’s hands on Oct. 7.
Defense attorney Michael Wozniak is representing Walsh and Legal Defender Ron Gilleo has the Parsons case. Flagstaff defense counsel Ken Sheffield will represent Reed.
The defendants are each held on $1 million bond, awaiting arraignment before Judge Doug Camacho on Oct. 15.
