Cops: Woman Fired Shots into Motel Room with Kids Inside

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A 25-year-old St. Petersburg woman is behind bars after police say she fired a gun into a hotel room knowing three children were inside.

The incident unfolded Jan. 30 around 12:45 a.m. at the Sunshine Skyway Motel, 2330 34th St. S. Police say Jasmine Williams, 23, a male companion and her three children, ages 7, 5 and 1, were inside an efficiency room when bullets came flying through the front window.

After the shots were fired, a witness look out and saw the suspect, identified as Shannon Opiri Parham, with her arm extended out of a light blue Hyundai. Parham, the witness said, had a gun in her hand. At that point, the car pulled away and Parham is accused of firing more shots.

Williams told police about 45 minutes before she shooting Parham visited her room. She was upset about an issue involving Williams’ mother, an email from police said. Williams and Parham got into an argument and Parham left, “but was certainly aware that the room was occupied by Williams and her three children,” the email stated.

Parham was arrested Tuesday and charged with one count of shooting into an occupied dwelling.

Photo credit: Shannon Opiri Parham/Courtesy of the St. Petersburg Police Department