Yesterday, after being convicted of third-degree murder, 19-year-old Marcquis Walker-Harris was sentenced to 12 1/2 years to 25 years in prison for the July 2007 attack that killed 69-year-old Kwok Wai Ho: Teen given up to 25 years for killing of elderly walker.
Walker-Williams testified in his own defense during the trial, calling his actions dumb but saying he never intended to rob or kill Ho. Yesterday, he repeated that assertion and asked for forgiveness in a rambling 10-minute speech to the judge and Ho's family in the courtroom.
According to trial testimony, Walker-Williams was among a group of teens walking down the street on July 10, 2007 when he spotted Ho. As the group passed Ho, Walker-Williams suggested to his friends that they "catch a body" -- jump someone, throw a punch and run.
Walker-Williams said he ran up behind Ho, wrapped his arm around Ho's shoulders, below his neck, and pulled him back so Ho could not defend himself.
At that point, two neighbors began yelling at Walker-Williams to stop and he released his hold and ran. Ho hit the concrete, struck his head on a curb and sustained a mortal injury. Ho died a week later after his family decided to take him off life support.
Walker-Williams told the victim's family, "I'm nervous, I'm scared, I'm lost, because I don't know what may happen to me." Oh, you're scared? Really? After going over what happened to Kwok Wai Ho, I can't seem to muster up any kind of sympathy for this kid.
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