State not seeking death against Parker

It looks like the prosecution will not be seeking the death penalty against former Avon Park police officer James Parker.

Assistant State Attorney Steve Houchin was not in the Highlands County Courthouse Thursday morning for Parker's pretrial conference and stand-in David Ward could not advise when Judge Peter Estrada asked whether the state would be seeking death.

However, public defender Pete Mills told Estrada he had spoken with Houchin and was told the state would not be seeking the death penalty.

If they were, Mills continued, he would have insisted on using a court reporter at Thursday's hearing. Estrada noted for the record that no court reporter was present.

Mills added that, while he couldn't speak for the state, it was his understanding that the decision had gone through the assistant state attorney's death penalty committee.

"I have halted my penalty phase preparations," Mills said.

Mills asked that the case be continued until March so he and Houchin can go through other discovery issues and set depositions.

Estrada granted the continuance and the next court date is March 18.

Parker, 33, is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse that stem from the death of 22-month-old Kaedyn Short earlier this year.

Short died May 27 at a hospice home where she was being cared for in her final days. She was the daughter of Parker's former live-in girlfriend and had been on life support at a St. Petersburg hospital for some time after being hospitalized for severe injuries she suffered March 29.

The child, then 20 months, was initially brought to Highlands Regional Medical Center with multiple bruises and an apparent skull fracture. Her mother, Jennifer Short, was at work at the time of the incident and Parker was watching the child, according to the Highlands County Sheriff's Office.

Jennifer Short was also indicted in June on felony counts of failure to report child abuse and neglect of a child causing great bodily harm.