Preston Walls: Teen gets 65 years in prison for fatally shooting 2 students, injuring school founder

DES MOINES, IOWA: On Thursday, January 18, Polk County District Judge McLellan sentenced an Iowa man to 65 years in prison for the fatal shooting of two students at a Des Moines alternative school and injuring the program's founder. 

Additionally, Preston Walls, 19, received consecutive terms following his September conviction on charges of second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and assault causing serious injury. 

Further details about the victims and their injuries have emerged during the investigation. Another individual charged alongside Walls has acquited as per NBC news.

What happened at the court hearing?

During the court hearing, a jury found Preston Walls guilty after he admitted to killing Rashad Carr, 16, and Gionni Dameron, 18, on January 23, 2023, at the Starts Right Here alternative school located on the outskirts of downtown Des Moines. 

Additionally, Will Keeps, the school founder, was shot but managed to survive. He promptly resumed the program, which operates through a contract with Des Moines Public Schools.

Walls is required to serve a minimum of 40 years before becoming eligible for release. Additionally, he is mandated to pay $150,000 in restitution to the families of Carr and Dameron. 

In a separate trial, jurors acquitted another individual, Bravon Tukes, who faced charges of murder and other counts for driving Walls away from the shooting.

Walls, during his testimony in that trial, asserted that Tukes had not planned the shooting and played no role in the killings.

What did the defense attorney say?

According to AP news, defense attorneys admitted that Walls killed the two students and shot Keeps, but they argued that he did so because he believed his own life was in imminent danger. 

Walls, slated to graduate from the program two days after the shooting, claimed he feared Dameron and Carr would attack him upon leaving school, anticipating a potential threat later. 

During the trial, defense lawyers highlighted that Dameron was armed with a gun on the day of the shooting.

Walls asserted, "I was scared to walk out of that school at 1 o’clock. They waited outside the school for me before,"

Under prosecution questioning, Walls admitted to shooting Carr nine times, Dameron 13 times, and hitting Keeps with two bullets. 

Police apprehended Walls less than an hour after the shooting.

Prosecutors argued that Walls was associated with a gang that frequently clashed with a rival gang, including Dameron and Carr. The families of the teens contested the assertion that they were gang members. 

The families of Carr and Dameron have filed a lawsuit against the program and Keeps, alleging a failure to maintain a safe environment.