‘I want my daddy’; Family mourns young father slain in Oakland
OAKLAND — Bernard Parker II’s 2-year old daughter, Jhenea-Marae, wakes up several times a night crying and saying “I want my daddy.”
But that reunion will never happen.
The 27-year-old Parker, a home health care provider and part time warehouseman, was fatally stabbed June 17 after getting into an argument with another man in the area of 14th and Madison streets, near a bar where he liked to hang out and play pool. authorities said.
Parker had moved to Oakland at the end of March with his fiancee, Rashanda Charles, their daughter and her 6- and 7-year-old sons.
The 27-year-old Charles, who still calls Parker “my husband,” said he “didn’t deserve to die the way he died.”
She said they had been best friends since they were 15 and living in Charlotte, North Carolina. They had been together five years and lived in San Leandro before moving to Oakland.
Charles said it took her a few days to tell Jhenea-Marae that her father would not be coming home. Until that time, the little girl had stood by the front door of their home, crying and waiting for him to appear.
“I tried to explain it to her the best way I could. I say he is in the sky. She is still confused and understands the best she can. But she wakes up numerous times a night crying and saying, ‘I want my daddy.’ ”
Her sons, Ayden, 7, and Tristan, who just turned 6, are aware and already miss him terribly. He was “the only father they knew,” and “it’s just been so hard for them,” she said
She said Parker was “my life partner” and best friend. “He was just a great person. He would walk in a room and light it up, make friends with everyone. He was just a joy to be around.”
She said she would remember him “for his beautiful bright spirit, how he loved adventure and just loved life,” and for how much he enjoyed being a father.
“He was just an amazing dad. He loved every part of being a dad,” she said.
He also realized the importance of providing for his family. She said she recently lost her job in customer service and he had become the family’s main provider, a role “he loved to take on,” she said.
She hopes the killer will be caught soon and when it happens, “If I could see him face to face, I would tell him ‘I’m not mad, I’m not angry. I just want to ask them why. I want justice and I want to explain what happened to my kids. I just want justice. It’s not fair, he was just a loving person.”
As to her and the children’s future, Charles is uncertain. “I really don’t know,” she said. “I’m just taking it day by day.”
Since she has no family locally, she has thought about moving back to North Carolina but would like to wait until the killer is caught. Until then, she said, “I’ll be moving in the direction that God guides me.”
Charles has set up a GoFundMe account to help with funeral and living expenses for the family. Those wishing to donate can access the account at https://www.gofundme.com/f/bernard-parker-funeral-and-arrangements. As of Thursday morning it had raised $3,271 toward a $30,000 goal.
Police and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $10,000 in reward money for information leading to the arrest of the killer. Anyone with information may call police at 510-239-3821 or 510-238-7950 or Crime Stoppers at 510-777-8572.