Waco drug dealer sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2021 shooting death

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - A Waco drug dealer who shot and killed a man who confronted him outside a South Waco convenience store three years ago was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday.

Jurors in Waco’s 19th State District Court deliberated about 45 minutes Thursday before determining punishment for Jeremiah Darnel Walker, a former welder who turned to dealing drugs after losing his job during the pandemic.

The jury of eight men and four women on Wednesday convicted Walker of murder in the shooting death of Dusty Bethke Jr., a 39-year-old father of eight.

Walker testified Wednesday he acted in self-defense after an agitated Bethke approached him aggressively in the parking lot of the former Johnny’s Food Mart on Richter Avenue. He must serve at least 7 1/2 years in prison before he can seek parole.

Bethke’s mother and sister gave victim impact statements after the jury returned its verdict. His sister said she prays for him, hopes he turns his life around for the sake of his family and told him she has forgiven him.

Walker’s attorney, Phil Martinez, said, in hindsight, Walker wishes he would have handled the situation differently and is sorry he took Bethke’s life.

Walker testified he fired two warning shots in an attempt to thwart Bethke’s advances, but Bethke kept approaching him and threatened to get into a shootout with Walker, whom he did not know.

“My client is relieved it wasn’t 45 or 50 years, as he thought it might be,” Martinez said. “So when he heard 15, he was pleased. He has always told me this was a tragic event. Both families lose something. The Bethkes lose a father and a brother. The Walker family are going to lose their father for a number of years, depending on what happens with parole. So nobody wins in this situation.

“But I do think the jury came back with a just and fair verdict. I believe 15 years was very appropriate. I think based on the evidence they heard, I still believe he was defending himself and the actions of Mr. Bethke led to this situation, and I think the jurors saw that.”

While Martinez asked the jury in summations for a sentence on the low end of the punishment range, prosecutors Will Hix and Chris Spendlove said Walker was deserving of a sentence on the higher end of the scale. Walker faced from five to 99 years in prison up to life.

“Jeremiah Walker took a life in broad daylight in the heart of Waco,” Hix said. “The attentive jurors that heard evidence this week followed their pledge to uphold the rule of law in McLennan County. We are hopeful that Mr. Walker proves himself worthy of the forgiveness that was offered to him from the victim’s family today during their statements.”

Judge Thomas West of Waco’s 19th State District Court instructed jurors that the law does not entitle defendants who are illegally carrying a weapon while committing a felony, such as Walker selling drugs, to claim self-defense if they kill someone during the incident.

Two drug addicts who met Walker in the parking lot to buy heroin from him that afternoon both testified for the state that they saw Bethke acting strangely. He was talking to himself and challenged Walker to have a shootout with him, both Michael Harrison and Haylee Halbert testified. Walker, Harrison and Halbert each testified that Bethke did not display a gun during the altercation.

Walker described Bethke as “very erratic and stimulated.” He asked Bethke if they knew each other and whether they had a problem. He said Bethke approached him, ripped off his shirt and said, “You damn right. We don’t know each other but we could have a shootout now.”

Bethke then returned to his car and parked it behind Walker’s and Halbert’s vehicles, effectively blocking Walker in, Walker said. He said Bethke got out and was “storming toward my vehicle with an agitated walk.”

Walker got out of his car with his 9 mm pistol by his side.

“I was using it as a deterrent, but I didn’t know if he had a gun or not,” Walker said.

He said he asked Bethke why he blocked in their cars. Bethke responded, “Nobody cares about that pistol. I’ll take it from you,” Walker told the jury.

Bethke came closer and Walker said he fired two warning shots into the ground. Bethke kept coming, he said, and he sidestepped him and fired one shot into his abdomen, Walker said.

Bethke returned to his car and drove away. Waco police found his Ford Mustang crashed into a fence less than a half-mile away in the 3100 block of Daughtrey Avenue. Bethke was dead in the front seat, officers testified.

Martinez asked if he was acting in self-defense, why did he drive away from the scene and not report the incident to police.

“I was scared. I was nervous and I didn’t believe that my word alone would be good enough for police officers who would be arriving at the scene,” Walker said. “I was in shock and my first instinct was flight.”

A Dallas medical examiner testified Bethke was shot in the lower back, with the projectile exiting his abdomen. Walker insisted he shot Bethke in the stomach from close range.

Copyright 2024 KWTX. All rights reserved.