Man found guilty of murder after ‘unprovoked’ shooting of 19-year-old gets 40 years in prison

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

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

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

As previously reported, the shooting occurred in early June 2023 at a party near Thomas and Russell Avenues in north Brookyn Park. The party took place in a garage, where the victim sat at a card table with several others, 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 and not even talking” moments before the shooting.

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

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

Multiple witnesses identified Walker as the shooter in photogenic lineups, court documents say.

Police found and arrested Walker following 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 showed online news articles about the shooting and the victim’s death and even bragged about shooting him in the chest. The witness confirmed that Walker “became nervous” and tried to run away when police arrived at the apartment.

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

The complaint states that Walker provided a false alibi for the murder in a Mirandized statement before changing his story when confronted with evidence. He then admitted to shooting the man in the garage.

Walker then claimed that he had been placed 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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