Jealous Ex-Boyfriend Allegedly Involved in Shooting and Kidnapping

By Laura Berol - April 22, 2024
Daily Stories | Domestic Violence | Non-Fatal Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

DC Superior Court Judge Lloyd Nolan found probable cause on April 19, for domestic violence charges against David Walls who was allegedly reacting as a spurned lover.

Walls, 38, is charged with kidnapping while armed and four counts of assault with a dangerous weapon for his alleged involvement in an abduction on April 10, and a non-fatal shooting on April 13. Both incidents took place on the 2700 block of 30th Street, SE.

In his probable cause argument, the prosecutor described Walls waiting outside his ex-girlfriend’s home in the middle of the night until she emerged with her new romantic partner. According to the prosecutor, Walls then kidnapped her at gunpoint, and she was only able to escape only by jumping from his vehicle a few blocks later. 

Three days later, the prosecutor asserted, Walls returned to shoot at his ex-girlfriend and her new partner as they were entering their home. Neither of the complainants sustained injuries.

Walls’ attorney, Marnitta King, argued in response that Walls’ ex-girlfriend was an unreliable witness who misled the police multiple points in her testimony. In King’s account, the ex-girlfriend planned the meeting with Walls, got into Walls’ vehicle of her own free will, and had the opportunity to walk away if she wanted.

As to the charge that Walls threatened his ex-girlfriend’s new partner with his gun, King argued there was no evidence to support it because the partner, “abandoned his new little girlfriend and ran in the house when he just saw the defendant.”

The prosecution called a Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective who testified that, on April 10, one male and one female complainant reported that Walls had pointed a firearm at them and forced the female complainant to get into his vehicle. The complainants described the firearm as a brownish camouflage-colored handgun.

On April 13, the detective said, the same complainants reported that Walls had shot at them while they were entering their apartment building.

The prosecution played security footage from a camera across the street from the complainants’ apartment building showing a white Jeep Wrangler with a black top parking in front of the building around 2:00 a.m. on April 10. About an hour later, the door to the building partially opens, allowing the light inside to shine out. 

At the opening of the door, an individual, identified as Walls, exits the Jeep and walks to the building’s entrance, returning moments later with the female complainant. After a brief interaction at the side of the Jeep, they both get in the vehicle and drive away. 

Following the Jeep’s departure, a dog walks from the building into the street. The detective testified that the complainants told him they were on their way out to walk the dog when Walls met them.

Footage from the same camera around 4:00 a.m. on April 13 shows the complainants parking outside their apartment building when a white Jeep Wrangler with a black top drives by. As the complainants walk toward the building, the Jeep drives by a second time.

The prosecutor slowed the footage to allow the detective to point out a puff of smoke coming from the driver’s window on the Jeep’s second pass. 

In his probable cause argument, the prosecutor noted that MPD officers found a hole in the doorframe and bullet fragments on the floor of the apartment building’s entryway.

According to the detective, a search of Walls’ residence in Hyattsville, MD, led to the recovery of a 9-millimeter, sand-colored handgun in Walls’ bedroom. The detective also said a search of a white Jeep Wrangler with a black top on the premises turned up a single used 9-millimeter shell casing on the driver’s side floorboard.

In cross examination, King confirmed with the detective that the female complainant told him she had a protective order against the defendant, but no such order existed. King also confirmed that the female complainant told the detective she broke up with Walls in February.

“She, in fact, the day of this incident, told the defendant to come to get her,” King asserted.

“She sent me three messages, and none of them showed what you’re talking about,” replied the detective.

King then showed the detective a series of text messages sent between 12:15 a.m. and 12:47 a.m. on April 10, in which the female complainant and Walls made arrangements for him to meet her at her apartment.

“Did you know that, the day before, she sent him provocative photos asking if he liked what she looked like?” King asked the detective. She showed him photos, and he recognized the female complainant’s face in one of them. 

King read a message from the female complainant that stated, “You could just say you liked the pix,” and one from Walls, responding, “You know I like them. You just want to make me horny.”

“About the text messages, that’s what she does to control the defendant,” King asserted in her probable cause argument. “She wanted him to come back that night, even if he wanted to get away from her.”

King also questioned the detective about the security footage of the alleged kidnapping. 

“When she gets in the car, he doesn’t push her in,” King observed.

“No, ma’am,” the detective replied, “but she didn’t get in until he violently hit her in the face.”

King noted that, although the female complainant claimed the defendant hit her with a gun, the security footage didn’t clearly display a gun. When the footage was replayed slowly, the detective pointed out a dark object that might have been a gun in the defendant’s right hand.

King confirmed with the detective that the complainants couldn’t see the face of the person driving the Jeep on April 13. She also pointed out that the used shell casing found in the Jeep could fit any 9-millimeter gun and hadn’t been specifically identified as coming from Walls’ gun.

Judge Nolan found probable cause for all five charges against the defendant.

King then asked that Walls be released pending trial in order to keep his job, which requires him to drive for a living. She suggested that the judge issue Walls stay-away orders for both complainants. 

The prosecutor requested preventive detention for the safety of the complainants, since Walls had already tried shooting them. 

The judge ruled that Walls remain in custody. He also issued Walls stay-away orders from the female complainant and the 2700 block of 30th Street, SE.

The next hearing was scheduled for April 29, giving time for the prosecution to prepare a pre-indictment plea offer.