Tallahassee police arrested Deronco V. Parker Jr. after a fatal shooting at the Jackson Masonic Lodge.

Second degree murder, which the release and WCTV print, and second-degree murder, which the Tallahassee Democrat prints, are one charge with two spellings. The charge is the booking. It is not a finding that he fired the shots the release describes. The three accounts do not print the same name, and they do not print the same time. No account used here names the man who died or sets a court date.

The Tallahassee Police Department posted a release on Oct. 31, 2026, headed as a quick arrest in a fatal shooting. It said that at approximately 1:39 a.m. officers responded to the Jackson Masonic Lodge, found one adult male with multiple gunshot wounds, attempted life-saving measures, and had him taken to a local hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. It said detectives in the Violent Crime Unit identified Deronco V. Parker as the suspect. The arrest line at the bottom of the same release reads: Deronco V. Parker, Jr., 25, for second degree murder. Deronco V. Parker and Deronco V. Parker, Jr. are not the same printed name. WCTV, in a staff story whose page lists a published time of 5:52 a.m. EDT that day, reported that TPD said Deronco Parker, 25, was arrested Saturday morning and charged with second degree murder. The Tallahassee Democrat, in a staff report whose page showed an update at 5:31 p.m. ET, reported that police arrested a 25-year-old man on a second-degree murder charge. An earlier index of that same story, carrying 4:52 p.m. ET, named Deronco V. Parker Jr. and said he was taken into custody at about 10:44 a.m. A release line with a comma before Jr., a Democrat line without that comma, and a WCTV line with no middle initial and no Jr. are not the same name. Second degree murder and second-degree murder are not the same spelling.

The place and the clock are not one account. The release names the Jackson Masonic Lodge and does not print a street. WCTV reported the shooting happened around 1:40 a.m. near the Jackson Masonic Lodge on Apalachee Parkway. A separate Democrat story, updated at 4:56 p.m. ET, reported that a man was shot and killed early Saturday at Jackson Lodge on Apalachee Parkway, and that police responded about 1:41 a.m. to 2818 Apalachee Parkway, where officers found an adult man with multiple gunshot wounds, according to a department incident alert. Jackson Masonic Lodge, Jackson Lodge, and 2818 Apalachee Parkway are not the same printed place. Approximately 1:39 a.m., around 1:40 a.m., and about 1:41 a.m. are not the same time. WCTV reported that when officers arrived, one man was found with multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to a hospital, where he died. The release said life-saving measures were attempted and that he succumbed. Died and succumbed are not the same word. The Democrat's arrest story calls it a fatal shooting and describes the arrest as a quick development in the city's latest homicide amid a violent stretch of gunfire. That is the paper's frame. It is not a sentence in the police release.

What the release says happened between the two men is labeled as what the evidence indicated. It said the shooting occurred after the suspect and the victim encountered one another and became involved in a verbal altercation, during which, in the release's own wording, "the suspected produced a handgun and shot the victim." Suspected, printed there, is not the word suspect. WCTV reported that an investigation determined the shooting happened after Parker and the victim allegedly were in an argument, and that according to TPD, Parker then allegedly pulled a gun and shot the victim. A verbal altercation and an argument are not the same word. Produced a handgun and pulled a gun are not the same action. The release does not print allegedly. WCTV does. The release said that at approximately 10:44 a.m. he was located and taken into custody with the assistance of the United States Marshals Service, the Violent Crime Unit, and the Career Criminal Unit, and that he was charged with second degree murder. The Democrat's indexed arrest story attributed the 10:44 a.m. custody time to the department's news release and described it as roughly nine hours after police responded. WCTV reported an arrest Saturday morning and did not print 10:44 a.m., the Marshals Service, or the Career Criminal Unit. The release asks anyone with information to call TPD at 850-891-4200 or Crime Solvers at 850-574-TIPS.

No account used here names the man who died. No account used here reports a bond, a first appearance, or a trial date. The charge on the arrest line is second degree murder. It is what police said at the booking. It is not a finding that Parker shot him. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.