Today, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters announced the Prosecutor’s Office has filed a Motion for Relinquishment of Jurisdiction to try juvenile A.B. (DOB 7/15/04) as an adult. A.B. has been charged in Juvenile Court with one count of Aggravated Murder (SF), one count of Murder (SF), one count of Aggravated Robbery (F1), two counts of Felonious Assault (F2) and one count of Having Weapons While Under Disability (F3). If A.B. is convicted as an adult, he faces the maximum possible sentence of life in prison.

On February 14, 2022, A.B., along with another suspect, approached Gary Walker’s vehicle with the stated purpose of purchasing marijuana. Once inside the victim’s vehicle, the suspects robbed the victim at gunpoint taking his property and ultimately shooting the victim. The victim attempted to escape but crashed his vehicle a short distance away. The victim succumbed to his injuries at the scene.

A.B. is not permitted to possess a firearm due to a prior juvenile adjudication for Aggravated Robbery for which he was on probation at the time of this offense. The Juvenile Probation Department had filed six pretrial or probation violations on the Aggravated Robbery case dating back to May 2021. A.B. has also been charged with an unrelated assault.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters commented, “My heart breaks for Gary Walker’s family. His death was senseless and preventable.

Violent criminals, especially those who have repeatedly demonstrated they will not abide by court orders, have no business being on our streets.

Aggravated robbery is not a crime that can be explained away as a silly, youthful mistake. It is the type of real violence that should not be tolerated by our community. Juvenile Court has countless resources at its disposal to try to rehabilitate young men, while still protecting the community. Those resources were not used despite the numerous violations of this defendant and the obvious risk to public safety.

The murder of Gary Walker should never have happened.”