Akron man who was shot in head is charged with threatening to kill judge
An Akron man who was shot in the head is accused of threatening to kill a Summit County judge in the same way.
Brian Lashawn Walker was reportedly upset about the plea deal given to the man who shot him in 2020 and blamed Summit County Common Pleas Judge Amy Corrigall Jones, who accepted the agreement and handed down the shooter's sentence.
Over a span of several days, Summit County Sheriff's detectives say Walker called Jones, left her a voicemail message and sent her several threatening messages and videos on her Facebook page. In one profanity-laden video rant, Walker allegedly threatened to shoot Jones in the face, according to a sheriff incident report. The sheriff's office, which provides security at the county courthouse, investigated and then arrested Walker.
In the incident that preceded the threats against Jones, Walker was shot in the head in a parked vehicle on West Miller Avenue in Akron on Sept. 29, 2020, by another passenger.
Gerald Simpson, another rear passenger in the vehicle along with Walker, was charged in the shooting.
Simpson, 33, of Akron, was originally charged with attempted murder, a firstdegree felony with a gun specification. Under an agreement with prosecutors, though, he pleaded guilty Jan. 6, to felonious assault, a second-degree felony with a gun specification.
Jones sentenced Simpson to three to four-and-a-half years in prison on the felonious assault charge, and another three years for the gun specification, for a total of six to seven-and-a-half years in prison.
Threats made against judge
Sheriff's detectives say Walker began voicing his displeasure in the outcome of
Simpson's case in a lengthy voicemail message left for Jones on Jan. 17, which was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a holiday for the court. They say Walker called back the next day and spoke with an employee in Jones' office, yelling profanities at her and saying he “would take matters into his own hands” and that he “plays by street rules,” according to the sheriff report.
On Jan. 19, detectives say, Walker called back and asked to talk to Jones. The judge's employee told him she had given the judge his messages. Walker, who is Black, yelled and complained that “if he was a white victim, Gerald Simpson would have been sentenced to life.”
Later that day, detectives say, Walker sent Jones video messages on Facebook, according to the report.
Walker was arrested Jan. 19 at his mother's home in East Cleveland with assistance from East Cleveland police, Holland said.
Walker, 38, is charged with two counts of retaliation, a third-degree felony, and one count each of telecommunications harassment, a first-degree misdemeanor, and menacing, a fourth-degree misdemeanor. He pleaded not guilty during a video arraignment Jan. 25 in Akron Municipal Court and is being held at the Summit County Jail on a $5,000 bond. Walker also is accused of threatening deputies at the jail after his arrest. Detectives are still investigating and Walker could face additional charges, Holland said.
Job Esau Perry, who represented Simpson, said Walker and Simpson were acquaintances and the shooting was an accident that happened while Simpson was cleaning a gun. He said he thought the plea agreement was fair, given the circumstances of the shooting.
“This was an agreement done based on facts,” Perry said. “Skin color had nothing to do with the agreement — at all.”
Adam Vanho, Walker's attorney, said he understands the concerns the alleged threats have caused but wants to see the reports and evidence against his client.
“Any time you have a judge allegedly being threatened, it gets everybody in the legal system concerned,” he said. “I'm hoping we can take a step back and evaluate this once we have all the information.”
Vanho said he isn't sure if competency will be raised in the case, given Walker's head injury.
Grand jury will review charges
Summit County prosecutors declined to discuss Walker's case because it is still pending.
Walker's case has not yet been presented to a Summit County grand jury. A visiting judge is expected to be appointed to handle it.
“Any time we become aware of a threat to a judge or anyone else, our detective bureau takes them very seriously,” said Inspector Bill Holland, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.
Holland said a few threats have been made against the county's 10 Summit County judges over the past few years. He said detectives investigate and, if it's warranted, file charges.
Summit County judges have so far faced no actual violence. Judges elsewhere in Ohio and across the country, though, have been injured or killed by irate members of the public.
That includes a Steubenville judge who was shot outside the Jefferson County Courthouse in August 2017, with the judge and a probation officer returning fire and killing the man. Jefferson County Sheriff Fred Abdalla, called this a “cold-blooded attempted murder” of the judge, who was handling a wrongfuldeath case involving his attacker, according to CNN.