PROSECUTOR: Principal Criminal Attorney Allison Dunham, Homicide Unit
On February 28, 2025, the Honorable Maryanne Gilliard sentenced Ronald Walker to 23 years to life in prison. On January 28, 2025, a jury convicted Walker of second-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon. The jury also found true allegations of great bodily injury and armed with a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony.
Ronald Walker was living at a residence for unhoused seniors. On May 25, 2021, Walker became angry with the victim and attacked him with a machete. Sacramento police officers responded to Walker’s residence where they observed dried blood droplets in the driveway and a wet front porch that smelled of bleach. Officers located Walker walking away from the residence and arrested him. The machete was not located. The victim suffered a bone fracture and a laceration of the tendon that required surgery. On May 27, 2021, Walker was released from jail and invited friends to his residence later that evening. The next day, Sacramento police officers responded to a call of a stabbing at the residence and found the second victim unresponsive on a bedroom floor. Witnesses at the scene reported that Walker and the victim got into an argument. At some point during the argument, Walker stabbed the victim in the chest. A search of the residence showed a blood trail leading from the bedroom to the kitchen sink. The sink contained three knives that were collected and later tested. It was determined that one of the knives contained the stabbing victim’s DNA. Officers also located a machete in the backyard which was later tested. It was determined that the machete contained the first assault victim’s DNA. Walker was on active misdemeanor probation for domestic violence at the time of these crimes.
