Ronnie Walker murder trial underway, possible motive revealed during opening statements
Man accused of murdering teen stands trial
FOX 13's Evan Axelbank shares that prosecutors believe Ronnie Walker was mad that he had contracted something from 14-year-old Nilexia Alexander in their relationship, and that he'd given it to his actual girlfriend.
TAMPA, Fla. - More than three years after a 14-year-old girl's body was found in a field, the man charged with her murder is standing trial in a Tampa courtroom.
The backstory:
In May 2022, Nilexia Alexander was found shot to death off Floribraska Ave. Investigators said she was seen on video getting into Ronnie Walker's car in the early morning hours of May 6, 2022.
The teen was considered a runaway from Temple Terrace, police said. Earlier this week, her mother, Ashley Alexander, told FOX 13 she adopted Nilexia when the child was 4 years old.
Pictured: Nilexia Alexander.
Nilexia wanted to find her birth parents and repeatedly ran away, according to her mother. What's still not clear is how she met Walker in the first place.
In July 2022, investigators arrested Walker and charged him with first-degree murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Dig deeper:
In a previous case, Walker was sentenced to life in prison for manslaughter in 2010. He was let out, however, after an appeal in 2016.
Another man, Robert Creed, is charged with accessory to murder after-the-fact, and may have been in the car that night. He could testify at trial.
Pictured: Ronnie Walker.
Opening Statements:
Her mother had to listen to – and see – some of the gory details from the early morning of May 6, 2022, when her daughter was found shot six times, at least once in the head.
"That gun was within 12 inches of her face. Intentional premeditated," prosecutor John Terry told the jury.
Prosecutors believe Walker was mad he had contracted something from her in their relationship, and that he'd given it to his actual girlfriend.
"Fourteen-year-old Nilexia Alexander had run away from home," said Terry. "It wasn't her first time running away from home. She'd been struggling."
Prosecutors said they'll be calling a witness who will testify that Walker admitted to shooting her after blaming someone else, that he lied to investigators and that he tried to clean blood from his car.
In their opening statement, defense attorneys are pouncing on the credibility of those witnesses.
"[The witness] had been in jail, bonded out, committed more crimes, bonded out," said defense attorney Maria Dunker. "He was about to have his bond revoked. He was about to be in a situation where he would have to go back to jail."
Defense attorneys said it was the other person in that car tonight, Robert Creed, who killed Nilexia, insisting only Creed had been communicating with her in the days before the shooting. They also insist the DNA evidence of blood is not conclusive, and that Creed's critical statements to detectives, that Walker shot Nilexia, only came because they badgered him.
"[The detective said] if Ronnie Walker just shot and killed her in the car, because he was mad at her, just tell me that," said Dunker. "And then, and only then, you will hear that Robert Creed, for the first time, changes his story and says, that's exactly what happened. And from there on out, Robert Creed mimics, repeats what the detective had told him."
What's next:
This trial is expected to take many days, and will feature testimony from Robert Creed, who pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact.
What Creed says – and whether the jury believes him about what he saw in that car – could be the whole case.
Ronnie Walker faces the death penalty.
The Source: This story was written with information from Hillsborough County court records and previous FOX 13 News reports.
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