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Regan Jelks gets jail time for weapons offenses
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Regan Jelks was sentenced to spend two more months in the Trumbull County jail on two weapons offenses tied to the death of her boyfriend, Taemarr Walker, in October 2013.
Jelks, 22, of Warren and Detroit, showed no emotion as she heard the verdict delivered by Judge Peter Kontos of common pleas court.
Jelks was convicted of a felony count of complicity to improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle and a misdemeanor count of the offense.
Prosecutors said she knew Walker had two guns in the car the night Walker drove her to Risher Road Southwest, where Walker died in a confrontation with Warren police officer Mike Krafcik.
Police said Walker reached for one of the guns and had it in his hand when Krafcik shot Walker. Jelks was convicted at trial last month.
“It wasn’t my choice to be with him,” Jelks told Judge Kontos of Walker before sentencing, apparently hoping to reduce the amount of responsibility prosecutors said she bears for Walker’s death.
Judge Kontos summed up the case by saying, “Basically, the jury found that she knew there was a handgun in the car, and she knew there was an assault rifle in the car with clips for 27 rounds.”
The judge said she let Walker drive her car knowing that he didn’t have a license, but she isn’t responsible for Walker’s death because the jury refused to convict her of involuntary manslaughter.
“[B]ut for your decision to let him in, you would not be a convicted felon and he wouldn’t be dead, at least he wouldn’t be dead on Risher Road that night,” the judge said.
In addition to the 60 days in jail, she will be on probation for five years and could get 18 months in prison and an additional 30 days in the county jail if she fails to abide by the conditions of her probation, the judge said.
Jelks already served 50 days in the county jail from April 11, 2014, to May 30, 2014, after her indictment.
Earlier Monday, Judge Kontos reset the trial date for TaShawn Walker, 26, of Texas, brother of Taemarr Walker, 24.
TaShawn Walker is charged with killing Richard Rollison IV, 24, of Niles, one week after Taemarr Walker died. TaShawn Walker’s trial had been slated to begin Monday, but it is now set for July 20 because Walker’s attorney is involved in a federal trial this week.