Man sentenced to 52 years in 2020 shooting

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (Fort Wayne’s NBC) - An 18-year-old Fort Wayne man who was convicted of murder in a 2020 shooting was sentenced on Monday morning.

Xavier Walker was sentenced to 52 years behind bars after he was found guilty in March for the deadly shooting of Jaden Nelson.

Police say Walker, who was 16 at the time, shot and killed Nelson near Southgate Plaza along with Ronnie Miles Jr. on May 19, 2020. Miles pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 50 years behind bars in June of 2021.

Probable cause documents say Miles admitted to police that he and “Zay”, an alias for Walker, set up a drug deal with Nelson. He said the duo planned to rob him of the marijuana and “Zay” brought a handgun along. He told police the plan was for “Zay” to point the gun at Nelson while he would grab the drugs.

Miles said there was a lot of struggling in the car during the heist and claimed Nelson had a gun of his own. He said during the struggle there was a loud pop, and they jumped out of the car with part of the marijuana. Miles told detectives that “Zay” thought the victim was trying to shoot them so he fired his gun multiple times toward the vehicle.