FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: David Chapman
Phone: (904) 255-3004
Cell: (904) 524-6626
ChapmanD@coj.net
June 22, 2023
JURY FINDS WALKER GUILTY OF ATTEMPTED FIRST-DEGREE MURDER OF HIS WIFE, OTHER CRIMES
State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that a Duval County jury found Austin Walker guilty of Attempted First-Degree Murder, Armed Burglary with Assault or Battery, and Aggravated Assault. With the verdict, Walker now faces up to life in Florida State Prison. The Honorable Lindsay Tygart will sentence Walker at a future hearing.
On May 14, 2022, members of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a Northside home after receiving a 911 call from a neighbor. A child ran to the neighbor’s home reporting his father had a knife and was threatening his mother. JSO received another call from Walker’s father informing police that Walker had called him and said he killed his wife. Officers established a perimeter around the home and immediately removed the children from inside. They then breached the home and found Walker with blood on his pants and left shoe, along with a laceration on his left hand. The victim, Barbara Walker, was found lying on the ground with numerous stab wounds to her neck and torso area. The knife used in the attack was on the counter above her. Barbara Walker was immediately transported to the hospital for emergency surgery and survived.
“I feel that until I was in the hospital recovering from being attacked by my spouse that I just wasn’t taken seriously. Domestic violence cannot be just viewed as a ‘he said, she said’ dispute, it can’t be swept under the rug or just seen as a ‘family issue’ that stays behind closed doors,” said Barbara Walker. “I am thankful the jury saw through his attempted manipulation and delivered justice to my children and me. This has been a long journey, but I look forward to one day being able to use my voice to help others and make changes in the laws in these situations before it’s too late.”
The case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Jackie Blair and Elisibeth Adams.