A suspect in the shooting death of Powhatan County teen Tahliek Taliaferro was plotting an elaborate escape involving a handcuff key and a cell phone, according to an investigator.

Employees at the James River Detention Center discovered that Joseph "Joey' Parrish, 17, had obtained a handcuff key from a nurse, the investigator told Powhatan County Juvenile Judge Valentine W. Southall Jr. yesterday.

The teen apparently receives medication at the center and asked the nurse for a handcuff key she had, according to statements made in court.

Parrish persuaded the nurse by telling her he knew Pagan biker gang members who could pressure her to help him, according to court statements.

He arranged an elaborate escape plot that included a strategically placed cell phone to use once he was free, the investigator said.

Southall granted a prosecution request to transfer Parrish to an adult jail. The teen faces additional charges as a result of the alleged escape attempt.

Also in court yesterday, Joseph Parrish and his cousin, Ethan Parrish, 24, heard new charges against them in connection with the June 24 fatal shooting.

Each was charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and two related firearms counts.

Joseph Parrish faces an additional count of possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony.

The two are charged along with Stephanie Reynolds, 19, in Taliaferro's death near an ice cream shop that's a gathering spot for Powhatan teens. Another youth, Courtney Jones, was injured in the shootings.

The new charges against the Parrishes and the related counts of use of a firearm during an attempted murder pertain to Lawrence Harris and Tony Williams, who were inside the car with Taliaferro and Jones during the shootings, said Jason Moore, Joseph Parrish's lawyer.

All three defendants are scheduled to appear for preliminary hearings Aug. 27. Each was previously charged with first-degree murder, aggravated malicious wounding and two counts of use of a firearm.
Contact Calvin R. Trice at (540) 932-3674 or ctrice@timesdispatch.com.

The plot

Investigators say Joseph Parrish had gotten a handcuff key from a nurse and had arranged an escape plot that included a strategically placed cell phone to use once he was free.