In the early hours of a Sunday morning in Flint, Michigan, a dispute that began with threats on social media escalated into a fatal confrontation at a gas station. On May 26, 2024, at approximately 1:45 a.m., 20-year-old Isis Destine Walker, a Black woman, was shot and killed at the Marathon station on North Saginaw Street. According to police and trial testimony, an argument between two groups of women turned into a physical fight.
When authorities arrived, they found Walker suffering from gunshot wounds. She was rushed to an area hospital but was pronounced dead from her injuries.
The Flint Police Department's Major Crime Squad launched an immediate investigation. Witnesses at the scene were able to provide a description of a vehicle, which allowed investigators to quickly track down a suspect. Hours after the shooting, police arrested Shahanna Patrice Thorns at her residence without incident. The Genesee County Prosecuting Attorney subsequently charged Thorns, then 28, with first-degree premeditated murder and felony firearm.
The case went to trial in August 2026. Testimony revealed that during the physical altercation, Thorns's sister became entangled on the ground with Isis Walker. Thorns, who had a concealed pistol license, drew a handgun and fired several warning shots, causing the crowd to scatter. Moments later, as Walker was pulling herself up from the ground, Thorns turned the gun on her and fired the fatal shots. Thorns testified that she fired because she believed Walker was armed with a stun gun and was assaulting her sister.
On September 3, 2026, a Genesee County jury rejected Thorns’s claim that she acted in defense of another. The jury found her guilty of the lesser charge of second-degree murder and felony firearm. "This was another sad and preventable loss in our community," said Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton. "A dispute that started online and should have ended with words instead ended with a young woman's death, and a family that will never be whole again." As of September 2026, Thorns was awaiting sentencing, where she faced a penalty of up to life in prison.
