Joel Loarca was fifteen when he murdered another teenager. According to court documents Joel Loarca was outside of a Rhode Island high school with a number of gang members when a confrontation broke out. Joel Loarca would pull out a gun and fire at the rival group however the bullet would strike a student who was waiting for a bus nearby. This teen killer would plead guilty to the murder and would be sentenced to life in prison plus an additional ten years for gun possession.
Joel Loarca 2023 Information
Inmate Number: 160569
Name: Joel Loarca
Facility: Intake Service Center
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The teenager charged in the death of a 15-year-old outside of a Providence school last September pleaded guilty in Superior Court Friday morning.
Joel Loarca, 17, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole plus an additional ten years for the murder of William Parsons.
“Parsons was a high school student, waiting for a ride home. He was in no way involved in the altercation,” prosecutors said in court Friday.
On September 5, 2018, Loarca, a member of the Hanover Boys gang, got into a fight with two people around 2 p.m. outside of the Providence Career and Technical Academy. Prosecutors say Loarca pulled a gun from his waistband, and fired one shot.
His bullet hit the 15-year-old as he was in a crowd of students, waiting for a ride home from school.
“He grabbed his face and ran. Parsons collapsed in front of the sign outside PCTA, subsequently dying from his injury.”
Parsons’ family members filled the benches in court Friday, many wearing t-shirts that read, “Rest In Paradise William ‘Eddy’ Parsons”. The courtroom was filled with emotional as Parsons’ mother, Michelle, broke down into tears as Loarca entered in shackles. Another relative left the room, consumed with grief.
The prosecutor read a victim statement on behalf of Michelle Parsons, as she sat beside him.
“My son was the sweetest child since he was little, and even more respectable as a teen. How do you get killed the second day of school for nothing?”
She wrote that his death has left her forever changed.
“I cannot sleep anymore without medication, I have been diagnosed with severe PTSD.”
William Parsons’ father, William Parsons Sr., passed away just nine months after his son, she wrote. William Jr. is survived by two sisters.
“I will never forgive the person who killed my son, and just remember, what goes around, comes around.”
Loarca will serve his sentence at the ACI in Cranston. He’s eligible for parole after serving 25 years. If he were to get parole, Loarca would be behind bars for a total of 35 years.
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A teenager admitted in Superior Court to killing another teenager outside of the Providence Career and Technical Academy.
Joel Loarca, 17, pleaded guilty to five criminal counts on Friday related to the fatal shooting of William Parsons outside of the school in September of 2018. It came days after Loarca waived his juvenile status and agreed to be tried as an adult.
Parsons’ mother, Michelle Parsons, was overcome with grief in court as loved ones tried to console her.
Special Assistant Attorney General Peter Roklan read a statement on her behalf. “I cannot sleep anymore without medication. I have been diagnosed with severe PTSD,” he said. “The love I feel for my son no medicine can cure.”
Loarca was sentenced to life in prison, plus an additional 10 years. Loarca pleaded guilty to one count each of first-degree murder, carrying a pistol without a license, possession of a firearm on school grounds, assault with a dangerous weapon, and discharge of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence.
“I will never forgive the person who killed my son and just remember what goes around comes around,” Roklan said as part of the victim’s impact statement.
Prosecutors said on September 5, 2018, Loarca got into a fight with other students outside of the Providence Career and Technical Academy.
He then pulled out a .357 Magnum Taurus revolver and fired a shot, striking Parsons, who wasn’t even involved in the argument.
Police have said Parsons was an innocent bystander who was waiting for his father to pick him up after the second day of school.
Parsons was a sophomore at Central High School. He had planned to try out for the school’s basketball team and aspired to become a Rhode Island State trooper.
“My son was the sweetest child since he was little and even more respectable as a teenager. I wish I could’ve been there before he died,” Roklan said.
Police say Loarca fled from the scene and accidentally shot himself. First responders treated him for a gunshot wound about half a mile from the school.
According to prosecutors, police were able to find the gun after he hid it.
Loarca is eligible for parole after he serves 25 years for the life sentence.
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