Abuser gets life without parole in girlfriend’s murder

While sentencing Vashon Walker to life in prison without parole Tuesday, a judge said he hoped the abusive boyfriend convicted of killing Jessica Osborne thought about her every day for the rest of his life.

That was the message Judge Frank Jordan Jr. delivered while sending the repeat offender off to prison, until death he departs.

Walker’s criminal history includes aggravated assault, burglary and auto theft.

A jury on April 25 found him guilty of murder for shooting Osborne through the head on June 17, 2014, in the 4304 Forrest Road home the couple shared. They had been together just two months.

Pronounced dead at 7:40 p.m., Osborne, 28, left behind three young daughters to whom she referred in a terrified text sent to her sister before she was killed. The message read in part:

“Just promise me if anything ever happen to me you get my babies and don’t let nobody split them up…. Their dad’s don’t do anything for them now so please Tasha if this guy hurt me, you get my kids and never let them be apart.”

Prosecutors said Osborne’s homicide was the violent end of an abusive relationship that gradually escalated. Walker had a history of domestic abuse, and the previous May 30 had kicked in Osborne’s door and hit her in the head.

The night of the homicide, police found Osborne on the floor of the home’s living room, her shirt torn off and a bullet hole in her head, its gunpowder residue showing the gun barrel had been pressed against her temple.

Walker claimed an intruder killed Osborne during a robbery, but his account was disputed by neighbors who witnessed the couple arguing that day.

Though Walker told detectives he saw a gray truck speed away after the confrontation, a nearby resident said no truck was there that day. She also told police that after hearing the gunshot, she saw Walker come out the back door into the backyard, turn and kick the door in.

Investigators noticed the shoe print left on the door matched the Adidas sneakers Walker was wearing, and in the backyard they found a Ruger .45-caliber pistol hidden under vegetation. Georgia Bureau of Investigation ballistics tests matched the gun to the bullet that killed Osborne.

Detectives noted other discrepancies, too: Walker recounted having a fierce hand-to-hand fight with the intruder, but he had no corresponding injuries, and though he said he cradled Osborne in his arms and tried to give her CPR after the shooting, he had no blood on his hands and arms.

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Abuser gets life without parole in girlfriend’s murder."