Columbus teen pleads guilty to fatal shooting that led to truck crash, apartment fire
Daqavius Deshawn Anthony was 16 years old when he fired the shot that killed Jerry Walton Jr. as Walton’s pickup crashed into a Columbus apartment building, setting it afire.
That was on Aug. 13. On Friday, Anthony pleaded guilty to shooting the 44-year-old at midtown’s Village Square Apartments, 1441 Boxwood Blvd.
When police arrested him on Sept. 21, Anthony was charged with murder. Now 17, he pleaded guilty instead to voluntary manslaughter, and to using a gun to commit a felony and to being a minor with a handgun.
Superior Court Judge John Martin sentenced him to 26 years in prison, adhering to a plea deal arranged by District Attorney Stacey Jackson and Anthony’s public defender, Sirena Saunders, who asked the judge to weigh Anthony’s age at the time, noting teens can be compulsive and irrational.
‘Pay the price’
Recounting the evidence, Jackson told Martin that Walton had been living at the apartments with Anthony’s mother, and the couple got into an argument that night. Afterward Anthony and Walton got into a scuffle outside, before Walton got into his Ford Ranger pickup and tried to drive away, the prosecutor said.
That’s when Anthony drew a 9-millimeter pistol and fired several shots at the truck, with one bullet hitting Walton in the back of the head, Jackson said.
With Anthony dead or dying at the wheel, the truck traveled on until it crashed through an apartment building’s brick wall and caught fire.
Police and firefighters called at 9:54 p.m. saw heavy smoke pouring out of the building when they arrived minutes later, and the apartments were extensively damaged. Walton was pronounced dead about 40 minutes later, after his body was recovered from the burned truck, authorities said.
As he sentenced Anthony, Judge Martin noted that Walton was leaving when Anthony shot him, and the teen would not be headed to prison, had he let Walton drive away.
Columbus has a fatal shooting almost every week now, and brandishing firearms during a conflict is a continuing threat to public safety, the judge said.
“The use of handguns is not any way to resolve a dispute,” Martin told Anthony. The person shot is not the only one to suffer, he added: “Not only does he pay the price, but you have to pay the price.”
This story was originally published June 16, 2023 at 11:58 AM.