Terry Parker, Ronda Parker and Summer Heil were punished for different roles in Michael Pruitt’s death and cover-up.
TOWANDA, Pa. — Three defendants have now been sentenced in the Bradford County killing of Michael Pruitt, a case prosecutors said began with a luring plot and ended with his remains burned outside a rural home.
The longest sentence went to Terry Lynn Parker, 48, of Harrisburg, who was convicted April 23 of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence. Judge Evan S. Williams III sentenced him to life in prison without parole after jurors deliberated for less than 35 minutes. Ronda Parker, his estranged wife, later received 15 to 40 years in state prison for third-degree murder. Summer Heil, Parker’s girlfriend, was sentenced for hindering apprehension after helping dispose of Pruitt’s body.
The sentences reflect how prosecutors divided responsibility in one killing. Terry Parker was accused of firing the shots that killed Pruitt. Ronda Parker was accused of helping draw Pruitt to the home and allowing the plan to move forward. Heil was accused of joining after the killing and helping destroy evidence. All three cases centered on the same March 2024 weekend in Springfield Township, where Pruitt, 40, was painting at Ronda Parker’s home after traveling from North Carolina. Prosecutors said he believed he was there for work and family ties, not a trap.
Ronda Parker’s sentencing on May 11 completed a major remaining step in the case. Prosecutors said she knew for several days that Terry Parker intended to kill Pruitt and did not warn him. She pleaded guilty to third-degree murder before Terry Parker’s trial and testified for the commonwealth. Her testimony described Pruitt entering the home, being shot and running toward the master bedroom. She was in that room with a two-year-old child when Terry Parker followed Pruitt and fired the fatal shots, according to trial testimony described by prosecutors.
Heil’s role was different and narrower, though prosecutors said it was still central to hiding the crime. She pleaded guilty to hindering apprehension in 2024. Authorities said Terry Parker recruited her after Pruitt was already dead and after the body had been placed in the trunk of a car. Heil then traveled with Parker back toward Bradford County. Investigators said they bought an ax and other supplies along the way. At the property, prosecutors said, Parker and Heil dismembered Pruitt’s body and burned the remains while Ronda Parker cleaned blood inside the home.
Terry Parker’s trial focused on intent. He admitted from the witness stand that he shot Pruitt, but he denied premeditated murder. Parker said he acted after he “lost it.” The prosecution argued that the facts before the first shot showed planning: Parker drove from Harrisburg to Columbia Crossroads, brought a loaded pistol and brass knuckles, parked in a wooded area away from the house and approached through the woods. After entering the home, prosecutors said, he shot Pruitt in the chest, followed him down a hallway and shot him twice more in the head.
District Attorney Richard Wilson rejected Parker’s stated reason for the killing. Parker claimed he believed Pruitt had sexually abused his children. Prosecutors said no evidence supported the accusation. Wilson said Parker was angry because Pruitt had become involved with Ronda Parker and was taking on a family role Parker wanted to control. “Terry Parker could not tolerate that loss of control,” Wilson said after the conviction. The jury’s quick verdict showed the panel accepted the commonwealth’s argument that the shooting was intentional, deliberate and not justified by the allegation Parker raised.
The cover-up evidence also shaped the sentences. After the shooting, prosecutors said Parker wrapped Pruitt’s body, removed it from the home and placed it in his trunk. He then drove back to Harrisburg and went to work. Authorities said Parker and Ronda Parker later drove with the body still in the trunk while running errands, looking for a disposal site and stopping for ice cream with children in the car. That sequence showed jurors and the court that the crime did not end at the house and that the defendants had time to make repeated decisions.
Investigators found more evidence when they reached the property. Troopers were alerted after Ronda Parker sent her daughter messages about a murder. At the scene, they found a firepit still smoldering and recovered bones later identified as Pruitt’s with help from forensic specialists. They also found signs that the home had been cleaned and repainted. Earlier court records described messages between Terry and Ronda Parker about bleach, clothing, the smell of death and body parts in bags. Those messages helped support the tampering and abuse charges tied to the destruction of Pruitt’s remains.
Pruitt’s life and plans were also part of the court record. Prosecutors said he had come from North Carolina while trying to find stability, work and contact with his children. He was not described as a threat by the commonwealth. Instead, prosecutors presented him as the target of a plan made by people who knew him and used that trust to place him inside the home. His death left investigators to reconstruct not only the shooting, but also a long period afterward when defendants moved his body and discussed how to erase blood and remains.
The legal results now separate the defendants by role and sentence length. Terry Parker’s first-degree murder conviction brought life without parole. Ronda Parker’s third-degree murder plea brought a minimum of 15 years before she can seek release. Heil’s hindering sentence was shorter, but it was added to other prison terms and extended her overall time behind bars. The Bradford County prosecution therefore ended with one life sentence, one decades-long sentence and one combined term for a defendant who admitted helping after the killing.
No further sentencing hearings remain for the three defendants. Parker’s life sentence, Ronda Parker’s 15-to-40-year term and Heil’s combined sentence now stand as the final punishments in the killing of Michael Pruitt unless later court challenges change the record.
Author note: Last updated May 19, 2026.