MEMPHIS, TN— He’s accused of killing his parents and abducting his 12 year old adopted sister. Police arrested Antonio Whitlow, 33, Saturday night. Investigators say Whitlow killed his parents in their Little Rock home then drove to Memphis. An amber alert was issued and police spotted him near Autozone Park in downtown Memphis, with his adopted sister, Amber Whitlow.
This is not Antonio Whitlow’s first run in with the law. In 2007, Whitlow was charged with aggravated assault on a family member. He pled not guilty due to a mental illness but he was found fit to stand trial and changed his plea to guilty. Then two months ago on May 11 he was charged with stabbing a man with a butcher knife while waiting for the bus. Now he's charged with the murder of his parents.
"Basically it's peaceful other than a lot of prostitution, a lot of stranglers, and like I said a lot of activity going on in that house right over there,” said Paul Parham as he points to Whitlow’s house across the street.
Parham works in a funeral home right in the 1600 block of Elvis Presley Boulevard in South Memphis. He's seen Whitlow a few times but never imagined he could be charged with murdering his parents.
"It's bad. I would hate to be around somebody like that and I'm glad you're informing me so I can be more careful,” Parham stated.
Other neighbors felt exactly the same.
"It's scary, it really is. You know it's too close to home,” said Joy McFarland. She lives right next door to Whitlow. Now, she fears for her young children's safety.
Hours before Whitlow was arrested in downtown Memphis neighbors say half a dozen MPD squad cars were parked outside his home. Arkansas Police aren't saying how Whitlow's parents died Saturday afternoon. Friends of the parents say it's a peaceful neighborhood and the Whitlows were loving people.
“They mean a lot to me. We were all like family and we're all family in the neighborhood,” said a family friend in Arkansas Karon Miller.
Police say 12 year old Amber Whitlow was never hurt but who knows about what emotional scars are left behind after the killing of her mother and father inside their home.
Antonio Whitlow is scheduled to appear in court Monday July 30, 2012 for the aggravated assualt charge in May. Investigators say it may take a while before he can be extradited to Arkansas to face a judge on the capital murder charges.
