CEDAR RAPIDS — The mother of Cameron Barnes, who was fatally shot by a Cedar Rapids man on St. Patrick’s Day last year in a Marion bar, said Friday her “heart was heavy with sorrow.”
Her 32-year-old son was a “vibrant soul who was full of dreams,” Venice Barnes said her victim impact statement, read by another family member, during the sentencing of Duval T. Walker Jr. in Linn County District Court.
“It’s a pain no parent should have to endure,” Barnes wrote.
Zahria Campbell, Barnes’ cousin, on the behalf of other family members, said in her statement that this “doesn’t feel like justice.”
“It’s been 476 days” since her family lost their loved one, someone who was always kind and helping others — “he would have given anyone the shirt off his back,” she said.
Campbell chastised Walker, saying Walker “disgusted” her for showing no remorse and laughing and “mugging” for the jury during his first-degree murder trial in March.
“He will be known as a coward, and I hope he rots,” Campbell said.
Walker, 30, was smiling and almost laughing during the statements.
On the first-degree murder charge, Sixth Judicial District Judge Kevin McKeever sentenced Walker to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
He ordered Walker’s two other convictions — going armed with intent and possession of a firearm by a felon — to run concurrently to each other, totaling five year, but consecutively to the life sentence.
McKeever also ordered Walker to pay $150,000 restitution to Barnes’ heirs or estate in accordance with Iowa law.
Walker, during the hearing, said he didn’t care about what was said about him Friday because it’s “wrong,” and he was “wrongfully convicted.”
Walker was smiling as deputies led him out in handcuffs and he said, “Justice for Devonna.”
His sister, Devonna Walker, was fatally stabbed in January 2023 by her neighbor, Shane Teslik. Teslik called her a racial slur before she ran at him, punched him in the face, and he fatally stabbed her with a kitchen knife. Teslik was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The shooting
A Linn County jury deliberated less than two hours in March, following about four days of testimony, before finding Walker guilty.
The jurors saw surveillance video from the bar several times during the trial, and Marion police Sgt. Nicole Hotz reviewed the different angles of the fatal shooting on video for the jury.
Hotz, who was an investigator in 2023, testified Walker approached Barnes a little before 11 p.m. and, after yelling at him, threw the first punch as Barnes turned his head away from Walker.
According to evidence, friends of Barnes and Walker then got involved in the fight, as well as a few other patrons of Cocktails & Co., 1625 Blairs Ferry Rd., on March 17, 2023.
At some point, Walker picked up a handgun off the floor that apparently had fallen out of someone’s pocket during the fight.
The video showed a bar security employee, in trying to separate the two men, grabbed Barnes and moved him through the crowded bar toward the entrance, with Walker following them. When they got to the bar area, Walker started running toward Barnes and fired a single fatal shot.
The video showed Walker ran past Barnes lying on the floor and left the bar.
Police did not recover the weapon during their investigation.
Walker claimed self-defense but didn’t testify at trial, which is his right. Most defendants charged with murder are advised by their lawyers not to testify.