CINCINNATI — Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters announced on Tuesday he is asking that a 17-year-old suspected of being the gunman in a fatal Valentine's Day shooting be tried as an adult.
On Feb. 14, first responders found 28-year-old Gary Shanda Lee Walker dead from a gunshot wound while responding to the report of a crash on Dickson Avenue.
More than a week later, police announced the CPD Homicide Unit arrested and charged a 17-year-old with aggravated murder in the deadly shooting.
On Tuesday, Deters said the teenaged suspect, along with another person, approached Walker in his car in North Avondale and asked to buy marijuana. Once inside Walker's vehicle, the two allegedly robbed him at gunpoint and subsequently shot him. Walker attempted to escape, but crashed his car nearby. He died from the gunshot wound at the scene.
According to Deters, the teen should never have been free to allegedly commit the murder in the first place because he was out on probation following an aggravated robbery in May 2021. The teen violated his probation six times between May and the shooting that killed Walker, Deters said.
"This is not a kid for drug court, this is a violent criminal and they will kill your mom, they'll kill anybody," said Deters. "They don't care ... this individual violated six separate times, was released back in the community and because of that Gary Walker is dead."
Deters did not name the judge involved in the teen's prior offenses.
WCPO is not naming the underaged teen until a judge decides to bind him over and try him as an adult.
