Man talks about the fatal 14-year-old Tampa shooting as defense raises questions

TAMPA – Robert Creed vowed to tell the truth.

The truth is that he saw him sit in the passenger seat of Ronnie Walker’s car and twist with a gun in his left hand and then sit right behind the driver’s seat and shoot Nilkia Alexander.

The truth is, he said, that although his cell phone recorded several calls to Nylexia in the weeks before she was killed, he had no idea of ​​the 14-year-old’s outrage.

The truth is that he didn’t tell the police that he saw that he saw her being shot because he was afraid that Walker would kill him.

Does Robert Creed tell the truth? The judges must decide.

Creed, 48, stood witness on Thursday at Ronnie Walker’s trial and provided a detailed explanation of what he said happened in the early hours of Nilexia three years ago when Nilexia was killed.

Walker, 47, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of a girl. If he is found guilty, the prosecutor asks the ju court to recommend the death penalty.

Creed admitted that he pleaded guilty after the fact of the crime. He was handcuffed in front of the ju umpire and sat in a red shirt with the words “inmate” engraved on it. He has not yet been sentenced, but is facing up to 30 years in prison. He has 21 felony beliefs, he said.

The short, wiry Creed spoke calmly, his voice softly and tilted his head a little when he answered a long series of questions from the prosecutors.

He and Walker have been friends since childhood, he said. They grew up together around Tampa’s Belmont Heights area.

Creed said he had not undergone semi-equestrian work in May 2022. He alternated between being with his St. Petersburg girlfriend and his East Tampa brother, he said.

He was at his brother’s place on the night of May 5th. I was tired of the stomach bugs and fell asleep earlier that night. He woke up and saw Walker standing above him.

“Let’s get on,” Walker told him. Despite his illness, Creed got into Walker’s car. They met Walker’s girlfriend and another woman. They ran around Tampa in Walker’s Blackford sedan and hanged out at Walker’s girlfriend’s house.

He and Walker later left and continued driving, he said. They didn’t talk.

Walker rolled over by a group of people and asked, “Where did she go?” Creed didn’t know who he meant.

He continued driving, rounding out a few corners and pulling them into the car park. Walker tumbled down the window and cried out “Yes!”

The girl walked over and took her back seat. It was Nylexia. She sat right behind Walker.

Walker drove to a convenience store to buy a few drinks. While he was gone, Creed tried to call out his cousin, but he said his phone was dead. So he asked Nirexia to send a text for him.

When Walker returned, he gave Nylexia a tropical fantasy drink with a pineapple flavor. They continued driving.

Walker piloted the car through the city of Tampa Heights. He turned down the dark path. Creed said he hadn’t been there before.

The car has stopped. Walker began asking the girl questions, Creed said. He wanted to know: Was she having sex with someone? Nilexia said no, Creed said.

Walker began yelling at her, Creed said.

“Get out of my car,” he heard him say.

Creed said he was not paying close attention to the argument. He still felt sick and sat by his side in the passenger seat.

The screams continued, and Creed heard the explosion of gunfire. He turned and saw Narexia clutch her breasts. Walker had a gun in his left hand. I thought Creed looked like a 9mm chrome pistol.

Walker told the girl to leave again, Creed said. She opened the back door and left. Walker followed. Creed heard two more gunshots.

“I didn’t physically see it,” Creed said. “But I know he did it.”

Walker went back to the car and speeded.

“Don’t say anything,” Creed told him.

The pair drove to a gas station in Thornton, where both were recorded on surveillance video. They then returned to Walker’s girlfriend’s house.

Walker continued pacing, Creed glanced out the window. He repeatedly told him not to tell anyone what he had done.

“Did you tell me what happened?” asked Assistant State Attorney John Terry.

“No, sensei,” Creed said.

“Why not?”

“Because I was scared.”

He remained silent about the murder even after he learned that the police were looking for him. He went to the police station and told the detective, but he claimed he knew nothing.

But a few weeks later, he was interviewed again. By then, he and Walker had both been in prison. At that time, he told police he saw him shooting the girl.

After his own arrest, Creed said Walker had written him as a “little note” in prison. He wrote that police had violated his rights and repeated them to not tell anyone what he had done.

“The last time I saw him in court, he was threatening me,” Creed said. “He was like, ‘Going home and die.’ ”

On cross-examination from assistant public defender Maria Dunker, Creed admits that he had already received some kind of benefit for his cooperation – his bail elimination. However, he remains in jail as he said he had to wear a GPS monitor and had no fixed address. He also said he received credit for the time provided in an unrelated battery case since his guilty plea.

Creed insisted that he did not know Nylexia. Dunker showed him a call record showing that his number was being used to call her before the murder. Creed explained that he had acquaintances who knew the girl and often lent the phone to others.

He didn’t remember using Walker’s girlfriend’s phone to send text messages to his cousin. However, the records confirm that he contradicts his claim that he asked Nilexia to text him.

Dunker asked about his second interview with the Creed detective. She asks if she remembers being told he might be charged with murder, and that Walker’s lawyer is about to blame him. His memory was vague until the lawyer played a recording of his interview.

He admitted that the detective provided a scenario of how the shooting occurred before Creed agreed that it was what happened. Since then, he has been told that it was Walker who killed the girl.

Creed argued that what he said to police in that second interview and what he said in court on Thursday was true.

He said he first lied to the police because Walker knew a lot about him, his family and where he lived. He feared he would hurt him.

“Did you kill Nalexia Alexander?” the prosecutor asked.

“No, sensei,” Creed said.

“Did Ronnie Walker kill Nilexia Alexander?”

“Yes, sensei.”

Why was he asked, he was telling the truth now?

“Because I didn’t do anything.”

The trial continues on Friday.