Man gets more than 21 years for part in fatal crash during rolling shootout in downtown Minneapolis
A man received a sentence topping 21 years Thursday for taking part in a rolling gun battle on a downtown Minneapolis street that led to one of the two vehicles hitting and killing a young woman standing at a corner with her scooter.
Christopher L. Walker, 35, of Fridley, was sentenced in Hennepin County District Court after pleading guilty to third-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder in connection with the death of Autumn Rose Merrick, 18, of Minneapolis on Oct. 6, 2021, in the North Loop. Merrick was killed after leaving work.
With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Walker is expected to serve the first 14 years of his 21⅔-year term in prison and the balance on supervised release.
Co-defendant Marvel G. Williams, 35, of St. Paul, was sentenced in March to a term of 24¼ years after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and a gun possession count.
"This incident was extraordinarily dangerous and violent," County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement. "Mr. Walker's conduct took the life of one person and endangered the lives of countless others as he drove erratically and at high speeds through Minneapolis. When necessary, we will seek lengthy periods of incapacitation to keep the public safe, and that is what occurred in this case."
According to the charges:
Police responded to gunfire shortly after 11 p.m. near N. 5th Street and 6th Avenue, where officers soon saw a black Range Rover speeding into the intersection and then heard a crash. The Range Rover had hit a light pole and caught fire. The other vehicle, a silver Dodge Durango, had rammed into a building.
Walker, Williams and another person in the Range Rover were seriously hurt.
A friend with Merrick said the two were riding scooters to the Holiday gas station at that intersection and waiting on the corner when the Durango sped toward them. The friend said Merrick was struck, pushed into a building and trapped beneath the vehicle. Officers saw two bullet holes in the Durango.
Video surveillance from a nearby business appeared to show the Range Rover chasing the Durango just before they crashed.
The driver of the Durango, Larvell Elmore, 37, of St. Peter, Minn., was sentenced to a five-year term after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a gun.
