Man charged with fatally shooting son, 4, and wounding woman appears in Columbus court

A man charged with fatally shooting his 4-year-old son at Liberty Commons Apartments was in the Columbus Recorder’s Court Thursday, where a judge decided whether to send the case against him to superior court.

Jacquese Antwan Walker, 35, waived his right to appear in court, but his appointed attorney entered a not guilty plea on Walker’s behalf.

Walker is accused of shooting and killing his son, Jacquese Walker Jr., and shooting and injuring the boy’s mother.

Columbus Police Sgt. Amanda McKelvey said that police responded to a “very chaotic scene” at Liberty Commons apartments Monday, where they found the woman bleeding from several gunshot wounds.

The boy’s mother told an officer that Walker had shot her, according to McKelvey’s testimony.

Witnesses told police they saw someone drive away from the scene and hit another vehicle, according to McKelvey. The car, which reportedly belonged to the female victim, was later involved in a second wreck.

Witnesses told police that Walker exited the vehicle and ran over to the victim and struck her and yelled at her, “You did this, this is your fault,” according to the detective’s testimony.

Several shell casings and an intact bullet were found inside the apartment, McKelvey said.

McKelvey said that Walker was apprehended on Tuesday near a church on 14th Avenue in Columbus. Walker reportedly told officers that he purposefully shot the female victim but did not mean to shoot his son.

Before the shooting

Walker and his son’s mother got into a fight on Sept. 17, and he told detectives that he heard voices in his head and he grew angrier throughout the day, McKelvey testified. A fight the next day led to Walker retrieving a gun from a closet as the woman grabbed the child and tried to leave the apartment.

Walker allegedly told detectives that he began firing low, because he wasn’t trying to kill her and said he was aiming for her stomach or legs.

Walker told detectives he intentionally wrecked his vehicle twice in an attempt to commit suicide after seeing that his son had been killed, McKelvey said.

Judge David Ranieri found probable cause and bound the case over to superior court.