Judge Finds Suspect Guilty of Murder With ‘Intent to Kill Without Warning’

By Jeff Levine - January 8, 2024
Daily Stories | Homicides | Shooting | Suspects | Victims |

In an emotionally charged hearing on Jan. 8, DC Superior Court Judge Marisa Demeo found Matthew Walker guilty of first-degree murder and all other charges in connection to a shooting that also maimed another victim. 

Walker was accused of first-degree murder while armed and seven other counts including assault with intent to kill and possessing a firearm during a crime of violence for hisconnection to an incident on the 1700 block of Hamlin Street, NE, on Feb. 14, 2019. 

In a separate case, Walker is also charged with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly stabbing 23-year-old Jamal Green-Lee to death on the 100 block of Michigan Avenue, NE on April 29, 2019. Green-Lee died on Nov. 4, 2020, due to his injuries.

In a painstaking recapitulation, Judge Demeo reviewed the evidence presented in the four day bench trial. The judge said the prosecution had met its burden of proof showing that Walker had premeditatively and voluntarily killed David Remen, 32, along with grievously wounding Mike Hardy who was also shot multiple times. 

The pair was at an employment agency for low-skilled workers just as the business was opening at 5:49 a.m. on Valentine’s Day.

“Simply put, the defendant came with the intent to kill, quickly and without warning,” said Judge Demeo. She labeled it a “heinous crime.”

As Judge Demeo methodically worked her way through the verdict, about a dozen members of the shooting victim’s family watched as the five-year-old case finally headed toward conclusion.  Meanwhile, Walker showed no emotion as Judge Demeo repeatedly pronounced him guilty.  

In the end, Walker’s defense counsel, Stephen LoGerfo called for a delay in the pre-sentencing report to see if a “global disposition” that would include Walker’s other charges could be addressed.  Meanwhile, the prosecution wanted to proceed immediately.

To accommodate “room for dissent” Judge Demeo agreed to hold off on the report in lieu of a “post disposition status” hearing Jan.19 to see if there was any progress toward a resolution.  She set the sentencing for April 5.

After the proceeding, family members and supporters gathered around Hardy’s widow as she fought back tears.  He died three years after the attack at age 57, still suffering the physical and emotional aftermath.

While one family member expressed frustration that the “wheels of justice” hadn’t finalized the case in five years, the shooting victim’s widow expressed mixed feelings.  While she felt that the verdict was just, there was “no full closure” because her husband was gone.  

She promised to have “a lot to say at the sentencing,” things she wasn’t able to say during the trial. 

In closing arguments on Jan. 5, the prosecutor said Walker’s state of mind was assault with intent to kill,  “Souley, intentionally and premeditatively” at point blank range.  The prosecutor also said Walker caused, “horrible, horrible, horrible bodily injury” to Hardy. 

In summarizing the evidence, the prosecutor referenced surveillance footage of a masked man wearing a hoodie with a distinctive red and white stripe on the jacket entering victims’ office.  The footage shows the suspect opening fire with Remen collapsing as smoke from the gunfire fills the area.  More footage traces the suspect’s “flight path” as he runs away from the scene. 

Police were able to recover the clothing, the gun, and mask near the shooting which were subjected to DNA analysis.  It  showed with astronomical odds in many instances that Walker’s DNA was “very likely”  on the evidence compared to others who might have been involved. 

Another critical piece of evidence was a piece of paper found in the abandoned jacket that contained Walker’s phone number.  The prosecutors said there was a series of concentric circles tightening around Walker who was a denizen of the neighborhood near the crime scene. 

In his closing, defense attorney LoGerfo said the killing was “hardly planned.”  Further, he said, “Someone would have had a motive.”  There was apparently no connection between Walker and his victims.  He had never worked at the employment agency.

LoGerfo tried to discredit a firearms expert who said the recovered gun likely fired the fatal bullets as lacking statistical validity.  The defense counsel also noted there was varying degrees of certainty about the strength of the DNA comparisons. 

In the end, LoGerfo said, the government’s case was purely circumstantial.  

In redirect the prosecutor said, someone who looked like Walker, shot two people, with DNA evidence linking him to the crime, with DNA probability range of septillions and quadrillions.  

“Who else?” said the prosecutor.