Joseph Walker, 50, was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment for his role in a 2023 fatal shooting that occurred in the Eastern District.
Around 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 15, 2023, the Baltimore Police Department responded to a ShotSpotter alert triggered on the 1800 block of Aiken Street. Upon their arrival, officers found a male victim, later identified as 26-year-old Marvin Jackson Jr., suffering from a gunshot wound to his neck. He was transported to John Hopkins Hospital, where he passed away less than 30 minutes later.
Witness testimony collected by police identified Walker as one of the two suspects involved in the shooting, which investigators later found resulted from a drug deal gone wrong. The other perpetrator, 41-year-old Joseph Coates, was later identified by witnesses in a photo array. In early February, jurors found Coates guilty of first-degree murder and five other related charges.
Following a July 2025 jury trial before Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Lynn Stewart Mays, Walker was found guilty of second-degree murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, firearm use in a felony violent crime, conspiracy to use a firearm in a felony violent crime and firearm possession with a felony conviction.
Before sentencing at Walker’s Feb. 13 disposition hearing, defense attorney Staci Pipkin motioned for a new trial, but Judge Mays denied her request.
Pipkin argued that Walker did not visit Aiken Street with the intention to shoot anyone, and that he had merely been trying to purchase drugs. “But for that drug addiction, he wouldn’t be sitting here today,” Pipkin said. She went on to explain that Walker was not in possession of the firearm used in the shooting and that he even jumped out of his shoe when the gun went off, further supporting the defense’s argument that Walker was not privy to the shooting beforehand.
In response, the prosecuting attorney asserted that Jackson’s death left his family permanently scarred. The prosecution spoke on behalf of the victim’s mother, sharing that Jackson was his mother’s only child. The prosecutor emphasized the mother’s distinction that both Walker and Coates are responsible for the death of her son, and recommended a sentence of 80 years, suspending all but 40.
Judge Mays served Walker a 25-year sentence for the charge of second-degree murder, along with five concurrent five-year sentences for lesser charges.
