Chesco man gets jail time for fatal Delco shooting
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » A Downingtown man was sentenced to 30-60 years Friday for the August 2016 shooting death of 32-year-old J. Charles Hopkins.
Jamere Avona Walker was acquitted of first-degree murder following a jury trial in December, but was found guilty of third-degree murder, possession of an instrument of crime, firearms not to be carried without a license and possession of firearm prohibited.
Hopkins was gunned down Aug. 30, 2016, while driving along a mile-long stretch of Third Street in Chester’s West End.
During the trial, a witness testified that he was standing with Walker outside Sporty’s West End Cocktail Lounge at Third and Hayes streets when Hopkins drove by in a red 2005 Volvo.
Walker said, “That’s that (expletive) right there,” and jumped into a gold 2002 Dodge Intrepid, a vehicle the witness borrowed from another man. The witness said he often left the keys to the Dodge inside the vehicle.
He claimed Walker sped off after the Volvo and shots rang out moments later.
About a mile away, both vehicles were found crashed into the wall of Thomas M. Thomas Memorial Presbyterian Church about 2:30 a.m. A handgun was recovered from the Dodge and Hopkins was found barely alive inside the Volvo. He died later at Crozer Chester Medical Center.
A few days after the shooting, the witness said Walker told him the Volvo pulled up next to him and the driver began shooting at him, so he fired back. Police said no gun was recovered from either the Volvo or the victim.
Chester Crime Scene Investigator Jeff Linowski testified that the Volvo had multiple bullet holes in the driver’s side and an outgoing bullet hole in the passenger-side door of the Intrepid. Linowski also found a 9 mm pistol and five spent shell casings inside the Intrepid, as well as one in the gun and another on Third Street.
There was too complex a mixture of DNA profiles on the gun to positively identify anyone, according to state police DNA expert Jared Hiester. However, Hiester said blood found on an airbag, inside the passenger door and on the rear bumper of the Dodge was positively matched to Walker.
Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge George Pagano heard from the victim’s father, a retired Chester fire battalion chief, and his mother Friday. His mom said the passing of her son had been hard on the family.
“Every day is hard, to not be able to see my child or touch my child, or even to hold him or hear him,” she said. “I look at his children and see the sadness in their eyes, mourning the loss of their father.”
The victim’s father, Charles E. Hopkins Jr., said the arrest of the alleged killer relieves his mind in some ways — but not his heartache. said identifying his son and making funeral arraignments had been one of the hardest things he has ever done and something no parent should have to endure.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him,” he said. “It’s just mindboggling. I really still don’t believe it.”
Assistant District Attorney Sean McNabb asked the judge for a cumulative sentence of 30 to 62 years, stacking each charge at the high end of the standard range consecutively.
He said Walker had been callous in his discussions with detectives, deeming himself “a lover, not a fighter,” and had a history of run-ins with the law stretching back to his teen years. In the 11 and a half years since turning 18, McNabb noted Walker had spent 10 behind bars and did not seem to want to engage with society at large.
“This defendant chased down Charles Hopkins in a car, fired at least six shots … three were to the head, one was to the neck,” said McNabb. “And not only that, the manner in which it was done, spraying bullets all over the street, he didn’t have a care in the world who else might have gotten hit as well.”
Walker’s mother told the judge that she tried to get him away from Chester, but said he had no male figure in his life to guide him. He has told his siblings and other young relatives not to follow in his footsteps, she said.
Other relatives also described Walker as a good person and Walker told the judge that he had had “a hard life.” Defense attorney Eugene Tinari asked for a sentence of 18 years, noting his client did not grow up in a stable family setting.
Judge Pagano described the situation as a “tragedy.”
“A human being is dead and another human being is going away to prison for a long, long time,” he said. “Both of you have experienced terrible tragedies, but I have to say the family of Mr. Hopkins has experienced the hardest because they’re never going to see their family member again.”
Walker was given time served from March 2, 2017 to Friday. He is not eligible for early release.