Deranged dad kills wife, daughter and mother-in-law in killing spree before killing himself in Queens early Saturday: police
Jonathon Walker went from bedroom to bedroom shooting each of the victims in the head, killing his wife, mother-in-law and 7-year-old daughter. His other 12-year-old daughter was also shot in the head, but was able to call the cops to report the attacks.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Saturday, January 24, 2015, 11:09 AM
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A deranged dad killed his wife, daughter and mother-in-law with bullets to the head in a methodical murder spree at their Queens home early Saturday, police said.
The suspected killer was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound five hours later in a wooded area of Queens, police said.
Hulking Jonathon Walker, 34, put a bullet into his own head near the Bergen Basin, and his body was discovered inside the silver GMC Arcadia used to flee the gore-spattered crime scene. A weapon was recovered by police.
The dead man’s 12-year daughter, who was fighting for her life Saturday after surviving a gunshot to her head, had managed to dial 911 and report the morning massacre, sources said.
Police arrived to find the bodies of Walker’s wife Shantai Hale, 31, her mom Viola, 62, and 7-year-old Kayla Walker after the gunman targeted the victims in their bedrooms, the sources said.
Viola’s weeping sister said the family was living in the slain older woman’s home.
“She was a lovely person,” said a devastated Patricia Simmons, 64, of her sister. “She cared for her grandkids. She always made a place for then. Her daughter was living with her — with this guy.
“They seemed to be such a happy family. I didn’t see anything I should be alarmed about. We’re all so shocked.”
The 6-foot-5, 230-pound Walker, who played pro basketball in Portugal in 2008-09, fled the Springfield Gardens home on 148th Ave. near 231st St. after the 5:40 a.m. slaughter, the sources said.
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“It’s a very gruesome scene in there,” said City Council member Donovan Richards (D-Queens). “No one expected this. It’s horrific, just horrific.”
The wounded 12-year-old, Christina Walker, was undergoing surgery at Long Island Jewish Hospital Saturday morning, police said.
“She’s fighting, she’s fighting,” said a teary Wendell Warren, another of Viola’s six siblings. “She was always the toughest. I believe she’s going to make it.”
It was unclear if the child called 911 before or after her father pumped a bullet into her head.
But sources indicated she told police that Walker suddenly snapped before the killing started, with the shooter walking from bedroom to bedroom and opening fire.
Christina and her kid sister “are wonderful girls,” said Simmons, their aunt.
Facebook photos painted a portrait of domestic bliss in the family, including a series of shots showing the two girls posing happily in their school uniforms.
“That’s how they roll to private school,” wrote Walker.
FACEBOOKViola Warren, 62, was shot and killed, along with her daughter and one grandchild, by her son-in-law Jonathon Walker.
Hale posted a picture earlier this month of an elaborate pink, three-story Lil Princess Barbie house put together by Walker for their two daughters.
“Assembled by dad,” she wrote proudly.
The dead mom’s brother, a police officer in the 79th Precinct, was at the murder scene as the investigation continued.
Walker and his common-law wife were together more than a decade, and both kids were his biological children. Walker worked as a bouncer at local clubs, and neighbors described him as a man who kept to himself.
“He’s very quiet,” said Gina George, 50. “He never talks to no one. I just see him pick up his kids and drop off his kids.”
Relatives of the victims said they believed Walker had a gun license because of his job. And a second neighbor said he was not a violent or abusive person.
“He was so nice, a very nice guy,” said Sam Santos, 21, who lived next door for the last 13 years. “Never saw cops come to the house, never heard a fight — nothing like that.”
