posted July 11, 2002
A sobbing Chet Allen Walker told a Criminal Court jury Thursday that after he shot and killed a longtime acquaintance, he realize he had "just made the biggest mistake of my life."
The slightly-built Walker, 21, told the jury how he shot 20-year-old Joshua Shane Swafford at close range, sat for two hours in the vehicle with him as he died while trying to decide what to do, then burning the Eagle Talon with the body in it.
The jury in the courtroom of Judge Steve Bevil will hear closing arguments Friday morning, then decide on whether to give Walker a life prison sentence for first-degree murder or a lesser charge.
The defense says Walker is guilty of a homicide "in the heat of passion," but not premeditated murder. It says Swafford brought on the slaying by bilking Walker of $1,700 in cash he was given to buy marijuana.
Walker said Swafford came over to his house at 9725 Smith-Morgan Road on the evening of the shooting - Feb. 10, 2001. He said Swafford was the first person he had ever spent the night with as a boy, but he had hardly seen him for about eight years.
"He just showed up," he told the jury.
Walker said Swafford had a Smith and Wesson semi-automatic weapon with him, and he (Walker) suggested they go fire it at a remote water tower. He said they both fired it several times, then returned to his house. He said his cousin, Barry Dent, was there.
Walker said it was a Friday night, and they began talking of doing drugs. He said he wanted to get some marijuana, and Dent wanted ecstasy. He said Swafford stated he could get both.
He said they drove to the Read House, where Swafford worked, and he went in for the ecstasy. He said that when he returned, he had less drugs than was promised, and Dent questioned it. He said Swafford told Dent, "If you don't think it's right, I'll put this gun to your head." Walker said he told Dent to "chill out" about it.
He said they proceeded to a house in Hixson. He said he had given Swafford $1,700 to buy two pounds of marijuana. He said that before they went in, Swafford let him know he was not getting the marijuana or his money back.
He said Swafford put the gun to his head and said, "You're going to take it like a bitch."
Walker said he went inside the house, and there was a girl in the far bedroom. He said Swafford and a young man at the house "were in the bathroom talking about me."
He said that when they got back in the car, Swafford put the gun underneath the driver's seat. Walker said he reached under and got the weapon and held it while they drove the 10 minutes back to his house in Soddy-Daisy.
He said they let Dent out, and he got in on the front passenger side. He said he told Swafford to drive on down the road.
He denied that he told Dent, "I've got something to take care of real quick," as Dent testified at an earlier hearing.
Walker, speaking between sobs, told of telling Swafford to stop the car. He said, "I told him to give me my money back," but he said Swafford refused.
Walker said, "I just pulled the trigger, man." He said he did not know how many times he fired after first firing a shot out the window to make sure the gun was loaded.
He said Swafford was gasping as he moved him over to the passenger side.
Walker said he drove back to his house and sat in his driveway for two hours trying to decide what to do.
He said, "I had just made the biggest mistake of my life. I just didn't know what to do. I can't go to jail. It ain't my fault. How could this happen to me?"
Walker said he finally got some gas from his four-wheeler and drove the vehicle with the body inside to a ravine below his house. He said he set it on fire, then returned to his house and went to sleep.
He said that the next morning he was hoping it had been "a bad nightmare." He said, "I didn't want to believe it. I wouldn't even look out the back window."
He said that at one point, he called the grandmother of the victim and asked if she had seen him. He told prosecutor Chris Poole he did not know why he made that call.
He said he later had his mother's boyfriend go out back with him, and he acted as though he was discovering the vehicle for the first time.
He said he first lied to authorities, and he also tried to pin it on his cousin Dent. He stated, "You can't just say you've killed somebody."
He said he finally made a full confession to County Det. Robert Starnes. Walker said, "He was so nice. I just figured he'd understand."
Brittany Baker, who said she was the girl at the house in Hixson that night, said Walker was acting like normal and did not seem upset.
The medical examiner's office said two bullets were found in the victim's body, including one in the chest area.
Defense attorneys are Brian Hoss and Lee Davis.
Walker was the only defense witness.
He has pled guilty to burning personal property and abuse of a corpse.
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