Trial testimony sheds light on Warren’s officer-involved fatal shooting

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

After one full day of testimony, the involuntary- manslaughter trial of Regan Jelks, 22, explained a few things about the shooting death of her 24-year-old boyfriend, Taemarr Walker, on Oct. 19, 2013, by a Warren police officer — but didn’t do much to prove she bears any blame for his death.

Jelks is charged with involuntary manslaughter and improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle, alleging that Walker died “as a proximate result of [her] committing or attempting to commit” the firearms offense.

Details regarding Walker’s death have been scarce, so accounts of what happened from officer Michael Krafcik and tow-truck driver Jerry Gifford proved informative, especially Gifford’s description of being just feet away from Krafcik as the officer tried in vain to arrest Walker.

Gifford, who works for Mays Towing, said he was trying to tow an abandoned vehicle out of a ditch on Risher Road when Walker came up from behind in Jelks’ car and misjudged his ability to drive past the tow truck, going into the ditch on the other side of the road.

“I was going to approach the vehicle and say, ‘What’s wrong with you?’” Gifford said. Krafcik got there first.

“At that point in time, [Krafcik] kicked the [car] door shut and pulled his gun out,” Gifford said.

Krafcik would testify later that he went from being concerned about seeing a weapon in the back seat, which he immediately told a dispatcher about on his portable radio, to alarm. Krafcik said he kicked the car’s rear door shut to keep Walker from running.

Gifford and Krafcik said that’s when the officer and Walker began a tense negotiation — with Krafcik repeatedly ordering Walker to put up his hands but Walker refusing to obey.

Walker initially held up his hands as Krafcik told Walker he would be shot if he reached for the loaded assault rifle on the seat beside him.

Walker asked if he could light the cigarette in his mouth, and Krafcik told him no. Then Walker reached in his pocket, which caused Krafcik to believe he would have to fire if Walker pulled something from his pocket, Krafcik said.

“I’m thinking, ‘What’s he doing?’” Gifford said of Walker and the cigarette.

But Walker had nothing in his hand when he pulled it out, Krafcik said.

“At least 10 to 12 times, [Krafcik] kept saying, ‘Show me your hands,’ Gifford testified. Krafcik said the negotiation seemed to last forever, as he waited for a backup officer to arrive.

Jelks, meanwhile, complied with Krafcik’s commands, putting her hands on the front-passenger window, Gifford said, adding: “She’s terrified.”

Walker, an ex-felon trapped inside the car because two of the car’s doors were jammed shut by the ditch, finally lunged toward the front seat where he had been initially, his feet still in the back seat.

“I heard [Krafcik] say, ‘He’s reaching,’” Gifford said. Krafcik bumped or pushed Gifford slightly out of the way as he moved toward the front of the vehicle close to Jelks, then fired at Walker.

After one shot through the window beside Jelks’ head, the glass became cloudy, and Krafcik couldn’t see inside. But in a moment, the glass fell away. Krafcik said Walker was still moving, so he fired two more times.

Krafcik testified that he saw the rifle on the rear seat as soon as he first approached the back of the car.

“As I’m making the call [to the dispatcher with his portable radio] with my left hand, I’m grabbing my gun with the right hand, and the suspect is jumping into the back seat,” Krafcik said. “He puts his hands up, and I see his hands have latex gloves.”

Instead of allowing himself to be taken into custody, Walker “dove for the front,” then “fumbled around a while” under the driver’s seat as Krafcik warned, “I’m going to shoot you,” the officer said.

Krafcik fired when he saw that Walker had a gun in his hand. Sgt. Bryan Holmes testified that the gun was still in Walker’s hand when he arrived shortly after the shooting occurred. That gun was later found to be unloaded.

After the shooting, Jelks told Charlie Snyder, special agent with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, that she and Walker had celebrated Walker’s birthday at a bar in Niles, then returned to the house on Woodbine Avenue Southeast where they had lived together with Walker’s mother.

Jelks confirmed much of Krafcik’s and Gifford’s testimony and denied knowing that Walker had any guns in the car until moments after Walker drove her car into the ditch.