Police hold TJC student for Varsity Place slaying

Police arrested a Tyler Junior College student on a murder charge in connection with the Wednesday morning shooting death of a 20-year-old Hallsville man, according to Tyler police reports.

Jeremy Jarrod Walker, 20, a criminal justice major, remains in the Smith County Jail on bonds totaling $752,000 bond, according to jail records.
Walker initially was arrested on Wednesday for an unrelated burglary warrant from Fort Bend County. Investigators obtained an arrest warrant on the murder charge for Walker on Thursday, according to police reports.

Ricky R. Davis died at the scene from a single gunshot wound to the head, police reports show. The shooting occurred in the parking lot of the Varsity Place Apartments at 3400 Varsity Place about 2:30 a.m. Thursday.

Witnesses told police an assault happened just prior to the shooting, but police are still unsure if the victim or the suspect had been involved. Witnesses also told investigators the suspect went to an apartment where he obtained a handgun and fired several shots into a crowd gathered in the parking lot of the apartment complex, according to the police report.

Shem Daimwood, a University senior and Varsity Place resident,  said he called 911 after he heard the gunshots. Daimwood said he lives in an upstairs apartment near the location of the shooting. “There were approximately nine to 10 people standing around the body and on the curb,” Daimwood said. “I was unable to see the guy with the gun, but I saw the guy on the ground bleeding profusely from his head.”

He described the location of the shooting as more of a long alley that runs the length of the complex rather than a parking lot. “The crux of the situation is that in the back of that complex there have been fights with some regularity. So when I initially heard the shouting I figured it was just another one of those fights. The exception here was that the loser went back to get a gun,” Daimwood said.

Police investigators are still working to clarify witness statements and expect more warrants to be issued, said Don Martin, public information officer. Davis was the only person struck by gunfire, Martin said.

Alyssa Purselley, a University junior and a Varsity Place resident, said she woke up to noises around 3 a.m. Wednesday. “You know you’re always being woke up in the middle of the night at Varsity Place. I didn’t think anything about it,” Purselley said. Purselley said she did not realize how serious it was until she was leaving to go to work. “I walked outside and there were lots of police and ambulances,” Purselley said. “My neighbors were out there and they ask me where I was and told me what had happened.”

During the investigation of the shooting police also arrested 21-year-old Keith Dotson of Houston, for unrelated warrants for criminal trespass and traffic violations.