Man found guilty of murder in ‘unprovoked’ shooting of 19-year-old, sentenced to 40 years in prison

A man arrested and convicted in the death of a 19-year-old at a party in Brooklyn Park last year will spend the next several decades in prison.

Court documents show 32-year-old Daniel Martez Walker was sentenced Monday to 40 years in prison on second-degree murder charges. He was also sentenced to five years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm due to previous convictions for robbery and burglary, and was on parole at the time of the shooting. However, both prison sentences are to be served concurrently.

Walker was given 508 days of credit for time already spent behind bars.

As previously reported, the shooting occurred at a party in the area of ​​Thomas and Russell Avenue north in Brookyn Park in early June 2023. According to the criminal complaint.

Multiple witnesses spoke to police and said Walker got up from the table, then pulled out a black and purple handgun and fired without provocation, with one witness saying the victim was “just sitting there, not even talking” in the moments before the shooting.

Two witnesses also confirmed that Walker was the only person they saw at the party with a gun.

Investigators say they found one spent 9mm shell casing at the scene.

Court documents show that multiple witnesses identified Walker as the gunman in the photogenic lineup.

Police found and arrested Walker in response to a call of people using drugs at a home in the 8100 block of Zane Avenue North the night after the shooting. Police say they then recognized Walked and arrested him after he tried to jump from a third-floor balcony.

A witness at that apartment told police that Walker had been showing off articles online about the shooting and the victim’s death, even bragging about shooting him in the chest. A witness confirmed that Walker became “stressed” and tried to run away when police arrived at the apartment.

Police say they also found a handwritten note on Walker, the first line of which read: “Tell JoJo I sold the gun with the body on it.” Court documents say that when the officers looked at the note, Walker grabbed it from their grasp, put it in his mouth and swallowed it.

The complaint states that in the Mirandized Statement, Walker provided a false alibi for the murder before changing his story in the face of the evidence. He then confessed to shooting and killing the man in the garage.

Walker then claimed he had a bounty on his life and that the victim pulled out a gun and tried to shoot him, prompting Walker to act in self-defense.

Walker also admitted to fleeing the scene and selling the gun.

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