Warner Robins police continue probe of fatal Christmas shooting
WARNER ROBINS — Days after 19-year-old Jerrell Walker was shot and killed outside a home in north Warner Robins on Christmas night, the Warner Robins Police Department remains tight-lipped about the details of the alleged attempted robbery.
"This investigation is very preliminary and ongoing, so we are releasing limited amounts of information in order to preserve the integrity of the case," Police Chief Brett Evans said in a Monday email to The Telegraph. "Please be patient as our detectives continue to work through the details of the investigation."
Midafternoon Monday, forensic investigators visited the home on Oakridge Drive and interviewed the alleged shooter, 29-year-old Antonio Bagley. Bagley told police he fired his pistol at Walker because Walker was attempting to rob him, according to a police news release.
"With two people involved and only one capable of giving his version of the events, then that's where the investigation starts," Evans said in the email. "The autopsy, forensic evidence and interviews will confirm or deny (Bagley's) version of the events."
Evans also said the department initially misreported Walker's age by a decade.
"Age 29 was from an initial report from the on-scene supervisors and was simply an error for the date of birth received," Evans said.
The mistaken age and mention of an alleged attempted robbery were some of the first details that Walker's family learned about his death. Temekia Felder, Walker's mother, said she knew little about what police think happened until she read about the shooting in media reports.
Felder said she asked an investigator Monday how the age was mistaken, and "he couldn't give a response. He didn't say anything."
Evans said the department updated Walker's family "as much as possible today" and that going forward, the family will be updated before details are released publicly.
Walker's autopsy was scheduled for Monday morning, and results are expected Tuesday, according to a news release from the department.
Felder said she's conducting her own investigation, gathering information from family and friends about the circumstances that lead to her son's death. She said she expects the case will be cracked eventually.
"Little kids can't hold their breath. They can't hold their mouth," Felder said. "They see and they talk. ... Someone will break."
Walker's funeral is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday at New Hope Baptist Church in Perry, Felder said. The family is not having a wake.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Macon Regional Crimestoppers at 877-68-CRIME.
To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 or follow her on Twitter@Lauraecor.
This story was originally published December 28, 2015 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Warner Robins police continue probe of fatal Christmas shooting ."