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Jury selection started Monday for a Gary man charged in a slaying last year.
Virgil “Reese” King, 24, is charged with murder, unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, and two counts of unlawful carrying of a handgun, according to court records. He has pleaded not guilty.
He and co-defendant Micah “Mike” Sanders, 25, were charged in connection with the Jan. 25, 2023 death of Daqwuan Walker, 23, of Gary.
Walker was found shot at least 10 times. His death was ruled a homicide.
Sanders took a 45-year plea deal for murder Friday, court records show. His remaining counts, including a gun enhancement that could have added up to 20 more years would be dismissed. A judge has to accept the deal.
His sentencing hearing is June 28.
A Gary detective was called 8:17 a.m. Jan. 25, 2023 to the 500 block of Chase Street where Walker was found unresponsive on his back near the home’s front stoop, according to court records.
Police found several 9-millimeter bullet casings nearby.
A witness told police Walker was walking back from a gas station around 6 a.m. when gunshots rang out, according to court records.
Police discovered a dog had been shot dead on the 500 block of Taney Street not long after Walker’s slaying. It was the same bullet type, the affidavit alleges.
A K-9 dog tracked a scent from the crime scene to the same house on the 500 block of Taney, then stopped at a house on the 2500 block of Waverly Drive, five blocks away from the murder scene, charges state.
Officers surrounded the home. A man appeared to try crawling out a back window with possibly a gun in his pocket before closing it shut. Officers arrested King and Sanders, according to the affidavit. A woman and several kids were inside.
A witness told police King and Sanders knocked on the door asking to come inside and he knew them “through our (relative).”
The men were inside for 10 minutes before police came, according to court documents.
After a search warrant, police found body armor thrown on the sofa, a loaded tan handgun left in a closet, and another gun magazine. Detectives also found two black sweatshirts, a pair of black sweatpants, a tank top and gym shoes.
Security footage showed two men in black sweatshirts walking in an alley toward where Walker was shot, then running away afterward, the affidavit alleges.
King, the shorter man, told police he was in the area with Sanders when “a couple of people looked at him strangely” and said he needed to leave. They “took off running” after he heard shots, running to house where police found them. He went there for a friend to pick him up and left things like his sweatshirt there, he said, according to documents.
Investigators said King was “dishonest,” charges state. Sanders, the taller man, only gave his name, before he asked for a lawyer.
The case is before Judge Gina Jones. Deputy Prosecutors Maureen Koonce and Keith Anderson are assigned. Defense lawyer Adam Tavitas is representing King. Defense attorney Nicholas Barnes represents Sanders.
mcolias@post-trib.com
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Meredith Colias-Pete , 2024-06-10 23:38:51
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