Former detention officer gets life for killing ex who was pregnant with his child
12/12/2023 12:58 pm PST
PLANO, Texas (TCD) -- A 33-year-old man will spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing his 25-year-old ex-girlfriend and her unborn child on Easter weekend in 2017, leaving her 8-year-old son to find her dead.
According to a news release from the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, on Monday, Dec. 11, a jury convicted Keith Haynes of capital murder in connection with the 2017 shooting death of Kenishia Walker, who was pregnant with his child at the time. He was automatically sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
On April 14, 2017, Haynes fatally shot Walker in her bed, and her 8-year-old son later found the body, the district attorney's office said. Authorities arrested Haynes in his apartment days after the shooting.
At the time, Haynes worked for the Dallas County Sheriff’s Department as a detention officer in the courtesy patrol division, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
According to the district attorney's office, "Walker had been afraid Haynes would kill her."
Walker reportedly sent text conversations she had with Haynes to a friend and said, "If I ever come up dead please show the police this and other screenshots."
Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Allenna Bangs called Haynes "such a coward," adding, "Kenishia is important. The unborn baby's life was important. And they both mattered."
In a statement to the jury, Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Sarah Sherman said, "This case is not a mystery. All the evidence has pointed to one person."
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