Police 'Didn't Need To Use Excessive Force,' Crest Hill Mom Says

CREST HILL, IL — On a shelf in her bedroom on Pioneer Road, Laura Parks has a cloud-covered box containing the ashes of her 30-year-old son, Matthew J. Parks. He was fatally shot by a Crest Hill police sergeant during a domestic disturbance call on March 14.

For 37 days, the Crest Hill Police Department and the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force put out false information about the police shooting, wrongly claiming that Parks stabbed one of the Crest Hill police officers.

"During the confrontation, Parks stabbed a Crest Hill Police Officer in the leg, with a knife," a statement posted on Crest Hill Facebook page wrongly said in March. "This officer has been with the Crest Hill Police Department since September of 2019. It is believed that the knife cut the femoral artery of this responding officer’s leg. A sergeant with the Crest Hill Police Department shot the suspect several times in defense of the injured officer’s life."

Through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests and a review of Crest Hill's payroll data, Joliet Patch determined that Crest Hill Police Sgt. Terry Fenoglio fatally shot Parks on the top level of the apartment building at 1412 Pioneer Road. Fenoglio also shot Officer Ryan Tetlow.

The Crest Hill Police Department and the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force has not disclosed the names of the officers involved in the shooting for the past two months.

Matt Parks lived at the apartment complex for about a year. On Tuesday, his mother sat down for an interview with Joliet Patch's editor to talk about the shooting, which happened just down the hall from her upstairs apartment.

"Matt has always been a momma's boy," remarked Laura Parks, who recently retired from the U.S. Post Office on Joliet's McDonough Street after working there 35 years.

Mom Senses Danger

During the early evening of March 14, Laura Parks sensed something was wrong with her son. She said he approached her in the apartment building parking lot and exclaimed, "My death is on you and Jasmine."

"Matt was having a mental breakdown that day," she said. "He punched his wife in the face, and he had never touched her before. He just lost it mentally. He was getting to the point of paranoia because he was really paranoid of everything. He really needed to go to the hospital. He needed to seek professional help, but he didn't like doctors. He didn't like doctors for anything."

Laura Parks said her daughter-in-law called 911, hoping the Crest Hill Police Department would show up at the apartment building to defuse the situation and calm her husband down.

The initial 911 call prompting the Crest Hill police response was at 6:48 p.m.

"We never seen him act that way," his mother recalled. On March 14, "he was just beyond help. When the police came, I told them he was suicidal. They kept trying to tell me to shut my door and mind my own business, but it does involve me, because it's my son. The only time I heard any commotion was right before they killed him."

During Tuesday's interview, Laura Parks said her son was recently fired from his job with Frito-Lay, and he was struggling to find employment. She said he worked in the past at several factories and warehouses, where he had experience operating a forklift.

"It was just getting to him mentally," she said.

Laura Parks remembered seeing three Crest Hill police officers converge upon her son's apartment. At least two of the officers had their guns drawn.

At one point, her daughter-in-law stepped outside the apartment after the police arrived. Matt Parks remained inside along with his three children, ages 12, 7 and 4.

Laura Parks believes the officers, at first, fired a single Taser at her son because, she said, "I heard him say, 'You missed.'"

After the Taser was deployed, Sgt. Fenoglio fired multiple rounds from his gun, killing Parks and wounding officer Tetlow.

'It Happened So Fast'

Patch asked Laura Parks how many gunshots were fired.

"It sounded like three, but I'm not positive," Laura Parks said. "It could have been more. It happened so fast. I heard the gunshots, and right after the gunshots, Jasmine said the one officer went down, and he had a hole in his leg, and they were shoving it with gauze and a tourniquet."

This week, Joliet Patch asked Crest Hill Police Chief Ed Clark about Tetlow's work status.

"Officer Tetlow has not yet returned (to) full duty. I cannot comment further due to HIPAA," Clark wrote Patch.

After the shooting, Laura Parks saw two ambulances arrive at Pioneer Road. One ambulance took the injured officer to St. Joe's hospital. The other remained parked along the street and eventually left.

"I asked them, 'Did you kill my son,' and they wouldn't answer me," Laura Parks said, referring to the Crest Hill police. "I was not informed my son was dead until the coroner came."

On the night of the shooting, the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force announced that "responding officers performed life-saving measures on Parks, but he succumbed to his injuries on scene."

'He Needed Mental Help'

According to Laura Parks, the Crest Hill police turned her son on his side and "handcuffed him and left him to die. No life support at all. They killed him. They didn't need to use excessive force. He needed mental help more than he needed to die."

Laura Parks said she knew right away that her son did not stab the Crest Hill officer. Yet it took 37 days for the Will-Grundy Major Crimes Task Force to issue a follow-up news release, on April 20, indicating the Crest Hill officer was injured by friendly fire: "Responding Crest Hill officers observed Parks with the kitchen knife high over his head, approaching the Crest Hill Police Sergeant in an aggressive manner. The Crest Hill Police Sergeant discharged his firearm several times in the direction of Parks, who was approaching him with the knife. The gunfire struck Parks numerous times, and he was later pronounced deceased on scene."

"You're making my son looking like he stabbed a cop for 37 days," Laura Parks remarked. "That's horrible. Now, they come out with he lunged at him. I don't believe that at all."

'I Have A Hard Time Believing Them'

Patch asked Laura Parks why she thinks the police are now saying her son held the knife over his head and was lunging at police when they did not issue that statement at the beginning?

"To probably justify it," she replied. "If that was really true, why wouldn't you say that in the first place? That's why I have a hard time believing them. Why would they say he stabbed him when he didn't? Why do the police lie? We don't know."

This week, Patch asked Crest Hill Police Chief Ed Clark to respond to the allegations that his agency supplied the wrong information to the task force, suggesting that Tetlow was injured by Parks' knife when the injuries occurred from Sgt. Fenoglio's gun.

"Please direct all related questions regarding the incident on March 14, 2022, to the Will Grundy Major Crimes Task Force, as it is responsible for conducting the investigation and has been responsible for the dissemination of information since the initial Crest Hill press release," Clark wrote back.

'It's Not A Justified Shooting'

Fenoglio has been on the Crest Hill Police Department since September 2004. He was on the Joliet Police Department's hiring list for new patrol officers, but Joliet's Board of Police and Fire commissioners rejected his application in March 2015.

After the death of Parks, the Crest Hill Police Department put Fenoglio on paid administrative leave for about three weeks, documents obtained by Patch show. However, Fenoglio is now assigned to light desk duty status at Crest Hill's police station, according to the chief.

Since her husband's death, Jasmine Parks and her children have moved in with her parents, according to Laura Parks.

Another tenant has moved into the apartment where the police killed Parks. Maintenance staff has patched and repainted the walls where the bullets went.

Meanwhile, the city of Crest Hill's municipal law firm, Spesia & Taylor, sent Laura Parks a letter on April 19, rejecting her Freedom of Information Act request seeking access to the police reports in connection with her son's death.

"It's not a justified shooting," Laura Parks said.

No Police Body Cameras In Crest Hill

There is no police body-camera footage of the Pioneer Road shooting.

None of the Crest Hill police officers are using body cameras these days, Crest Hill's chief informed Patch. "The city of Crest Hill is planning on obtaining body worn cameras and will comply with the Safe-T-Act," Clark added.

Unlike Crest Hill, the Will County Sheriff's Office and the Joliet Police Department are both equipping their officers with body cameras these days.

"So, it's our word versus theirs and obviously, they already lied about stuff and tried to cover this up or whatever," Laura Parks remarked.

Matt Parks' mother said the knife her son was holding was a butcher knife.

"He didn't own a gun, and he didn't do any illegal drugs," Laura Parks said. "He was trying to be a family man. He was discouraged because he was having a hard time getting a job."

Patch asked Laura Parks if there's anything she wants to happen in light of her son's death at the hands of the Crest Hill Police Department?

"My main thing is I hope the police get better training for domestic and mental issues," his mother said. "Also, justice for my son. He shouldn't have been shot and killed. If the police had better training, we wouldn't be going through all this stuff.

"They didn't need to use excessive force. I know he hit his wife, which is out of character, but what other laws did he break to be shot and killed?"