Plea leaves many questions about 2013 Warren murder unanswered

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

Apparently many questions will remain unanswered in one of the city’s most-traumatic homicides in recent years after the man charged with the crime pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

TaShawn Walker, 27, was scheduled to go to trial for murder Monday, but he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, plus carrying a concealed weapon and improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle.

After the plea, Chris Becker, assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, revealed some of the facts police and prosecutors kept hidden since the Oct. 26, 2013, shooting death of Richard Rollinson IV, 24. Still, he admitted many facts remain unclear.

Uncooperative witnesses and not finding the guns hampered prosecutors, Becker said. And the fact the victim also fired his own gun was an obstacle, Becker said.

Rollison, of Niles, was at the Sunoco gas station on West Market Street at 12:54 a.m. with at least one other person. Walker was there with at least one other person. When a dispute among the two sides broke out, four to five people fired guns, including Rollison, Becker said.

When Warren police got there, the dash-cam video recorded Rollison as he identified TaShawn “Boo” Walker, of Baytown, Texas, as the man who shot him.

In recent months, Walker’s defense team has hinted that it wasn’t as simple as Rollison said – that Rollison died in a “shootout between several people.”

Becker said Monday that Walker’s attorney, Lynn Maro, would have pointed out that Rollison shot his own gun at least two times, and the man with Rollison also fired a gun. Rollison never fired his gun until after others fired, Becker added, weakening Walker’s case.

Becker said he had no physical evidence to prove the seven bullets that struck Rollison came from Walker’s gun because the guns were never recovered.

There is a surveillance video that shows Rollison walking away from Walker and the other combatants, even “putting his hands into the air like I don’t want no problems,” but the video still leaves things unclear, Becker said.

Maro says it’s true that Rollison walked away after words were exchanged, “but he started to turn back around,” just before the shooting started.

Her client, whose younger brother, Taemarr Walker, 24, was killed during a confrontation with a Warren police officer one week earlier, “feared for his own life,” and fired, Maro said.

Not only did Rollison fire, but his friend can be seen on the video firing, Maro said. That friend later drove off in Rollison’s car, which was hit three times by gunfire, Becker said.

Maro said she thinks the video helped her client’s position. “It appears Mr. Rollison pulls out his gun first,” she said. “Mr. Walker knows Mr. Rollison’s friend in Mr. Rollison’s car has a gun, and has fear he could end up dead like his brother.”

If witnesses were uncooperative, it’s possible it’s because Rollison’s death set off tensions in Warren that had not been seen in the city in many years.

“Warren was in chaos,” Maro said of comments on social media that followed the death of Taemarr Walker along side Risher Road Southwest. TaShawn Walker had come to Warren to attend his brother’s funeral.

Social media posts, especially on Taemarr Walker’s Facebook page, led to concerns about the safety of police officers and the public, especially at Warren G. Harding High School sporting events. A Harding football game was canceled.

Richard Rollison IV, the victim’s father, said he accepts that Walker is going to prison for 17 years, minus credit for time he already has served awaiting trial.

If Walker would have walked away without any more time behind bars, “I couldn’t live with myself,” he said.

Becker and others have pointed out the calming and positive influence the victim’s father had on the community, but Richard Rollison IV said he’s had about enough of Warren.

“To me, it’s just a big mess,” he said of the city. He plans to move out of Warren soon to be closer to his grandson.

Rollison said he told Walker during his hearing, “You robbed us of our son, and you have to go to prison for [17] years, and you have to live with it.”