Treyvon Walker Sentenced to 50 Years in Bibb County Killing of Kaneza Owens
MACON, Georgia – Treyvon Walker will spend at least 35 years in prison for shooting Kaneza Owens twice in the chest as police arrived at her home, after she ended their relationship. Her 7-year-old daughter was asleep upstairs.
Walker pleaded guilty Tuesday, November 10, in Bibb County Superior Court. A jury had already been selected, and the plea came just before trial. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The court sentenced him to 50 years, with the first 35 to serve in the Georgia Department of Corrections.
Threats before the shooting
According to the Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office, Owens and Walker were in a violent relationship, and she had decided to end it. Prosecutors said Walker refused to accept that.
In text messages before the shooting, he wrote: “U don’t want me wit s#*t or to have s#*t n u won’t either, Nothing !!!!!” He also wrote: “You’ll feel it later.”
A night with a gun
Late on May 4, 2023, Walker came to Owens’s home with a gun. He refused to leave, even after people told him to go several times, prosecutors said.
Through the night and into the early morning of May 5, he told Owens and two other people in the home that he would kill her and then kill himself. He said he was “ready to risk it all.” Owens recorded much of the night. Her videos show Walker holding the gun, pointing it at her and repeatedly threatening to kill her.
When police arrived, Walker tried to run out the back door and yelled “that’s the police,” prosecutors said. He then fired two shots into Owens’s chest. She died from her injuries.
Right after the shooting, Walker posted on Facebook: “Real Life Just Threw My Life Away Just Shot My Girl.” Authorities captured him on May 9, 2023, with the gun he used to kill Owens.
Family and prosecutors speak
Owens’s mother spoke to the court at Tuesday’s hearing.
“I don’t know what to say. For someone to say he loves you, he wants to build a life with you and take care of you. Then for him to kill you when your child is upstairs is something I just don’t know. I don’t understand.”
District Attorney Anita Howard said Owens did what advocates often urge victims to do.
“Kaneza Owens did what so many people tell victims to do. She decided to leave, and she was killed for it,” said Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney Anita Howard. “This year alone, there have been six homicides in Bibb County connected to domestic violence. Behind every one of those numbers is a family that has lost someone they love. If you or someone you love is experiencing domestic violence, please contact your local law enforcement or the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233. You do not have to face it alone, and help is available.”
Assistant District Attorney Amber R. Cook and Assistant Deputy Chief District Attorney Alveta Watkins prosecuted the case.
