In the early evening hours of September 27, 2018, a call about a shooting sent Kansas City police to an apartment complex in the 2100 block of Wheeling Avenue. There, in the parking lot, they found 23-year-old Dominique Walker suffering from fatal gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene, marking the city's 97th homicide of the year.
Investigators immediately began piecing together the events that led to the young man's death.
Their efforts were quickly aided by surveillance footage from the apartment complex. The video captured at least two individuals arriving at the location in a white Mercury Mountaineer. Following the sound of gunshots, the footage showed the suspects fleeing the scene in the same SUV. Detectives recovered several spent shell casings from the parking lot, crucial evidence in their burgeoning investigation.
The breakthrough in the case came when the suspect vehicle was located in Kansas City, Kansas. This discovery led law enforcement to an apartment belonging to the girlfriend of 28-year-old Skylar M. Williams. After obtaining a search warrant for the residence, police found a pistol that ballistics testing would later confirm was the weapon used to kill Dominique Walker. Williams was arrested and subsequently charged by Jackson County prosecutors with second-degree murder and armed criminal action.
During questioning, Williams acknowledged that he was present at the apartment complex on the night of the shooting and heard a gun battle. However, he claimed that he arrived and left the scene by himself in his vehicle. When confronted with the surveillance video that clearly showed multiple people getting into his SUV and fleeing after the shooting, Williams was unable to provide an explanation. He refused to name anyone else who may have been involved, citing a fear of retaliation. A judge set his bond at $250,000.
