An 80-year-old black Villager is terrified of the possible release of an alleged attacker who sucker punched him when he answered his door.
Kyle David Parrish, 37, of Umatilla, continued to be held Sunday night at the Sumter County Detention Center on a charge of battery. Bond has been set at $20,000.
Parrish was tracked down and arrested after an apparently racially motivated attack on the Villager at his home in the Village of Charlotte.
The incident was serious enough that Sumter County Sheriff Pat Breeden held a special meeting this past Thursday evening with a concerned group of the man’s friends and neighbors.
New documents are shedding light on exactly what happened and the fear the Villager has been experiencing since the shocking attack.
The Villager, a veteran and a retired educator who is active in leadership at his church and other organizations, was at home with his wife on April 24 when Parrish showed up and rang the doorbell. The Villager didn’t immediately recognize Parrish, but later realized that Parrish worked for an irrigation company operated by Parrish’s father. The Villager had been using the irrigation company for several years.
The Villager went out to his driveway and met Parrish.
“He was very angry and told me that he didn’t want my kind living here and I had better leave,” said the Villager, who purchased his home with his wife in 2014. “I struggled to understand him and asked him to explain.”
Parrish immediately punched the Villager in the face, using his “full force,” according to a description of the attack on file in Sumter County Court. The Villager suffered a busted lip.
Parrish “then hurried to his truck, yelled several expletives, and sped off.”
The Villager said he’d never had a cross word with Parrish or his father.
“The fact that he targeted me and said he didn’t want my kind living here is puzzling and very scary. I’m extremely concerned that he will return,” the Villager said in the document submitted to the court.
He called Parrish a “very volatile and unpredictable individual.”
In 2010, Parrish was arrested by the Fruitland Park Police Department on a felony charge of domestic battery by strangulation. The charge was dismissed after Parrish successfully completed a pre-trial intervention program. In 2011, a woman sought an injunction for protection against domestic violence, including protection for minor children. In effort to resolve the matter, Parrish agreed to enroll in parental counseling. He has had several traffic tickets, including for speeding, failure to pay a toll and failure to wear a seatbelt. In 2024, he was issued a criminal citation for driving while license suspended.
If Parrish makes bond, he will have to wear a GPS monitor, according an order issued by a judge. He is forbidden from coming within 500 feet of the Villager or his home. Parrish will not be allowed to contact the Villager, including by text, email or social media.
The attack has been classified as a hate crime.