A Gary man got 45 years Friday in a plea deal for his role in 23-year-old Daqwuan Walker’s death outside his mom’s home on Chase Street last year.
Micah Sanders, 25, pleaded guilty to murder. The sentence was outlined under the deal. He will be on parole for the rest of his life.
Investigators believe there were two shooters. Co-defendant Virgil King, 23, was convicted on June 16 of murder and unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and is awaiting sentencing.
Sanders signed his deal after his DNA was conclusively found on a gun linked to bullet casings at the crime scene. The evidence against King was more circumstantial.
“You had no reason to come to my home and shoot my son up like that,” Walker’s mother ZsaKenya Mathews, on the stand, told Sanders.
At the time, an elderly relative lived with her and Walker, who has since died, she said.
“I truly believe you caused (her) to die, too,” she said.
“You are done, it’s over for you,” Mathews said. “What you’ve done to my son, you’ve done to yourself. That’s what happens when you are a walking suicidal bum.”
Shortly afterward, Deputy Prosecutor Maureen Koonce thanked her and gently cut off Mathews’ comments.
She was a “very, very hurt mother,” Koonce said, noting Mathews ran out of the house and watched her son die.
Walker was “not the first person” Sanders killed, she said, referencing a previous reckless homicide conviction.
She asked Judge Gina Jones for 45 years.
Sanders did “apologize,” was remorseful and accepted responsibility for his role, defense lawyer Nicholas Barnes said. It was a “substantial” sentence and spared Mathews the “heartache” of another trial.
The past reckless homicide case was “appropriately pled,” he said. Barnes asked Jones to accept the plea.
Sanders apologized to the court, Walker’s family and said he wished he could take it back. His family lost, too, he said.
Jones said the case was a “tragedy.” She went “back and forth” on the plea, noting his past criminal history. She ultimately decided to accept it.
After the hearing, Mathews said she didn’t know the motive for her son’s death. Walker, survived by four kids, was “caring,” “helpful,” “honest” and “happy,” she said.
Police were called at 8:17 a.m. on Jan. 25, 2023, to the 500 block of Chase Street in Gary where Walker was lying lifeless on his back near the home’s front stoop, according to the 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.
mcolias@post-trib.com
