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Teenager shot, killed while trying to sell shoes on Instagram

HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — Authorities are investigating the shooting death of an 18-year-old who was trying to sell shoes using Instagram.

Police say Jay'dyn Parks was shot and killed during the meetup for the online shoe sale. Channel 2's Nicole Carr has learned the buyers with the weapon are citing self-defense and are cooperating with police.

But that doesn't sit well with Parks' father, Johnny, who spoke with Carr Wednesday afternoon.

"We gettin' through it," he told Carr.

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Parks said he heard the two rounds of gunfire that killed his son.

"I could feel it in my stomach. I had my wife to call my son. We couldn't make contact with him. I put my clothes on and began to look for him," he explained.

Parks found him in the back of an ambulance, less than a mile from their Hampton home. He had been shot multiple times.

Now, police are trying to figure out how Jay'dyn Parks' Instagram shoe sale led to his death.

"We're not 100 percent sure but right now the evidence leads to both individuals possibly had a gun," said Chief Derrick Austin with the Hampton Police Department.

What we do know is Parks posted an ad for these shoes to his Instagram account some time on Monday. Hampton police said a woman and a man in their early 20s had driven from Forest Park to Hampton to buy the shoes.

By 10:00 that night, shots were fired and the Forest Park pair left the scene to call police and report the shooting.

Police haven't released records or names, but said one of the buyers was behind the trigger.

"I can confirm that is their claim. That it's self-defense," Austin said. "There were seven shell casings on the scene and there's possibly going to be some more shell casings inside the car."

Police have a search warrant for the  buyers' car.

Parks' father told Carr, he's leaving it up to God and the justice system to bring him closure.

"I just let God and authorities handle it. Whatever the outcome, I'm at peace," he said.

An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday. It will be completed at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation headquarters.