By RUMMANA HUSSAIN
Chicago Sun-Times
Sharnett Perkins-Parrow | Cook County Sheriff's Dept.
An elderly South Side woman accused of shooting her husband, Booker T. Parrow, to death calmly listened to the allegations against her after she was slowly wheeled into court in a wheelchair for her bond hearing Friday.
While she was in her husband’s studio apartment for a mere three minutes Monday morning, Sharnett Perkins-Parrow, pulled the trigger and then put the a .38-special revolver in the 68-year-old man’s hand to apparently make it appear as if he had killed himself, Cook County prosecutors said.
But Assistant Public Defender Kevin Ochalla suggested that his client acted in self-defense when he asked the judge to make sure there were pictures taken of the injuries she sustained before the shooting.
Perkins-Parrow, 74, allegedly asked a maintenance man at the Cambridge Manor apartment buildings to call an ambulance because she felt “sick” after shooting someone.
She didn’t ask for any help for her dying husband, Assistant State’s Attorney Holly Grosshans said.
The senior citizen later admitted to police that the weapon used to kill Parrow was hers, and used to be her “daddy’s,” Grosshans said.
Investigators also found even more incriminating evidence in a basket attached under the seat of Perkins-Parrow’s walker—two more rounds of .38-caliber ammo.
When Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. asked Perkins-Parrow Friday if she understood that she was not allowed to contact anyone related to her husband, she said, “I don’t hear you good, say it again.”
Bourgeois then repeated conditions of her $2 million bond.
This time Perkins-Parrow, who breathed with the help of nasal cannula, replied, “Oh, okay.”
Bourgeois told Ochalla he would consider recommending Perkins-Parrow be released and placed on electronic monitoring if he can provide an address where she can stay as she awaits trial.
Perkins-Parrow graduated high school in 1960 and used to be a hotel housekeeping supervisor, Ochalla said. Before that, she worked for the U.S. Postal Service.
She had to retire in 1990 because of health problems, Ochalla said. She has been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and has had a triple bypass, the defense attorney said.
Perkins-Parrow and Parrow both lived in the same apartment building, in the 2600 block of South Indiana, but in separate units.
Perkins-Parrow has two adult children, ages 48 and 56.
Relatives who appeared in court Friday refused to comment.