Tampa ju-dean heard that Ronnie Walker had been killed once before Nilexia Alexander

TAMPA – It’s been nearly 22 years since a gunman pushed him into a nearby home in Sulphur Springs and shot Elaine Caldwell in the head.

Time could not erase the horrifying vision from Raymond Lee’s memory.

In court Thursday, Lee recalled an event that depicted in vivid detail the events surrounding the death of his late girlfriend. A kiss the gunman gave his daughter, he fought over the gun with $500 cash stolen from Lee’s back pocket, Caldwell’s screams.

He was asked if he had seen the murderer in court.

“Of course I will,” Lee said. He pointed to Ronnie Walker.

Lee was one of the first witnesses to testify Thursday during the penalty stage of Walker’s trial as prosecutors tried to persuade the ju court to recommend a death sentence.

The same panel was convicted earlier this week by Walker, 47, of the murder of Nylexia Alexander, a 14-year-old runaway man who was shot dead in 2022 on a dead end road in Tampa Heights.

“Nirexia Alexander was not the first person Ronnie Walker killed,” Advisor John Terry told the ju decree.

Prosecutors cited Walker’s previous murder conviction as an aggravating factor that he said he considered the death to be an appropriate sentence.

Ju’s judge saw a photo of Caldwell when she was alive. Others were lying on an autopsy table groping a single wound depicting his head above his right ear.

Lee repeatedly and clearly identified Walker as responsible for her death, wearing a black shirt with a gold chain hanging around her neck.

He recalls watching TV with his young daughter when Walker, whom he didn’t know, was not invited. Walker was wearing a hat, but no mask and a gun, Lee said.

He shoved Lee and his daughter into the bedroom where his girlfriend was styling her hair. Caldwell began screaming when she saw Walker holding a gun on Lee’s head.

“He kept telling her to stay quiet,” Lee said. “He said, ‘Where is the money?’ he kept pointing his gun at her. ”

Lee’s daughter was crying. Walker noticed and kissed the girl. He said he wouldn’t hurt her and he said he had his own daughter.

Lee reached for the gun. The struggle continued. He heard the gunshot and thought the bullet had entered the ceiling, but then he saw Caldwell collapse.

After the gunshot, Walker continued to demand money, Lee said. The girl said she had money in the car outside. When Walker kicked them out of the house, Lee pushed her daughter and told her to run. At the same time, Walker took off and snatched cash from Lee’s back pocket.

Walker did not respond when Lee spoke of the crime. The murder was unsolved for several years before he was charged and convicted.

Walker was sentenced to life in prison, but he won the appeal. He then pleaded guilty to a reduction in manslaughter charges in exchange for an eight-year sentence. He went outside but returned for several more years for a probation violation.

He was out again for about six months when Nylexia was killed.

Florida law changed in 2023 to allow for non-indifferent verdicts in death penalty cases, but Walker’s ju judge must comply with the old law. In other words, all ju judges must agree if they recommend a death sentence.

If a single ju judge does not think death is appropriate, Walker is sentenced to life in prison.

Public defender assistant Carolyn Schlemer said the defense respected the ju judge’s conviction and ensured Walker would die in prison.

“He will never be released and will be punished,” Schlemer told the ju judge. “The decision you have to make now is who is dead in the Florida State Jail for what he did to Nylexia Alexander?”

The defense attorney outlined Walker’s portrait and provided a future preview.

He was one of six fatherless siblings. When he was ten, his mother gave up custody of him and his two brothers and was raised by her aunt. The two sisters went to live with their father. The family was torn apart.

Walker was ill as a child with pneumonia and bronchitis. He suffers from a lifelong seizure disorder, Schlemmer said. As a child, he once twitched and rolled the window, bringing it to two stories on his head.

He grew up in poverty and crime, moving from one bad region to another, Schlemer said. Drug trade was common where he lived. He never graduated from high school.

He has three children. His daughter was murdered about a year ago when she was accused of killing Nylexia in 2021.

Schlemer said the defense would provide such details to assist the ju apprentice in “individual moral decisions.”

“These are not shown as excuses,” Schlemer said. “But to show you that the man is broken. And he deserves a life sentence with no chance of parole, not death penalty.”

The ju judges were familiar with the circumstances of Nilexia’s death, but they heard new details on Thursday about her life, her family and the community’s loss.

She was a toddler when she and her sister became Ashley Alexander’s foster child. Alexander spoke about the “fragile” girl, but she was sweet and affectionate.

Her mother recalls a picnic on the beach, watches Disney movies like “Frozen,” and chats on the front porch about school.

Her grandmother, Lessy Alexander, remembered her pancake breakfast and a spontaneous shopping trip, and the girl who danced to Alicia Keys.

Delia Gadson-Yarbrough, principal of Sheehy Elementary School, recalled Nilexia proudly serving the safety patrol in her fifth grade.

One day, after Nylexia went to middle school, she walked through the fiery Florida heat and returned to Sheehee to tell everyone she missed.

She will be a senior in high school this year. She wanted to go to college in New York City, her mother said. She wanted to be a fashion designer or lawyer.

“Thank you to God for allowing me to be a mother to Nylexia for 12 years,” Ashley Alexander said.

Testimony continues Friday.