Indictment handed down in ’15 murder

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A Mahoning County grand jury has indicted a Palmer Avenue man in a 2015 homicide.

Braquan Walker, 19, faces charges of aggravated murder and murder with firearm specifications and being a felon in possession of a firearm for the July 26, 2015, shooting death of Jarrell Brown, 18, at Market Street and West Indianola Avenue.

Walker was arrested shortly after the shooting and charged as a juvenile, but the case was dismissed in March 2017 from the juvenile court because of a ruling made at the juvenile court level on the statement of a co-defendant of Walker’s in the case.

The prosecutor’s office appealed the ruling and it was reversed by the 7th District Court of Appeals, which ordered that Walker be bound over to common pleas court as an adult.

Police at the time said Brown was killed because of a crime he committed with Walker and his co-defendant.

According to court documents filed with the appellate court, detectives were able to trace the movements of Brown and Walker through video cameras on Market Street businesses to an alley near where Brown’s body was found, where they recovered 9 mm shell casings and cigar wrappers they traced back to a Market Street store where they were seen purchasing items on video.

Another video showed Brown running from the alley about the time police believe Brown was shot. Police arrived minutes later and found his body.

Court records could not be found Friday to find out what happened to Walker’s co-defendant in juvenile court.

Walker was arrested with two other juveniles in May 2017 on the North Side after a chase. He was a suspect in several break-ins at the time, police said.