FORT MYERS, Fla. (TCD) — A man has been convicted of killing his neighbor in 2020 following a confrontation involving their dogs.
The Florida State Attorney’s Office for the 20th Judicial Circuit announced May 21 that a jury found Luis Walker guilty of second-degree murder –– including all special findings, improper exhibition of a firearm, and aggravated animal cruelty –– including all special findings. The special findings of the murder charge were that the defendant used, possessed, and discharged a firearm, causing great bodily harm or death. The special finding on the animal cruelty charge was that the defendant carried, displayed, threatened, or used a firearm during the commission of a crime. Walker is scheduled to be sentenced on June 26.
According to the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, on the evening of March 15, 2020, deputies responded to a possible shooting at the Lago Del Sol Apartments. Walker was reportedly walking his four dogs in the area when the victim’s canine ran up to Walker’s pets, and the “neighbor pulled his dog away as the defendant yelled at him.”
Walker retrieved a firearm from his apartment and fatally shot the victim and his dog. According to the Fort Myers News-Press, Walker also aimed his gun at the victim’s wife, but he didn’t shoot her and eventually went back into his apartment.
As a deputy went to check on the victim, Walker came out of his apartment and said, “It was me, I’m right here.” He was reportedly instructed to get on the ground, and the deputy subsequently took him into custody.
Walker claimed the victim “pulled the gun” when their dogs began acting out, and it “accidentally went off.” He also reportedly told the deputy “he had gone to his apartment to change after the shooting because he didn’t want to be arrested in sweatpants.”
Officials searched Walker’s apartment and recovered the revolver he used in the shooting.
