Man Convicted of Killing Two Women

Aug. 19, 2022 – A Memphis man who arranged a date with two women on line and then shot them both was convicted Friday on two counts of first-degree murder, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

A Criminal Court jury convicted 26-year-old Darrin Walker after a five-day trial, with both counts carrying life sentences. He will learn on Sept. 23 whether the sentences will be concurrent or consecutive.

The shooting incidents occurred shortly before 3 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2020, inside a vehicle parked at Bethay Drive and Belmont Run Cove in southeast Shelby County when Walker became angry and began shooting.

Sheriff’s detectives found Destiny Wilkins, 25, in the street suffering from several gunshot wounds. She told officers a man, later identified as Walker, shot her and a friend, and then forced her out of the car.

She said Walker drove off with her wounded friend, Nayeli ‘Courtney’ Love, 23, still in the back seat. The car was found abandoned later about two miles west at Lake Valey Drive and Barkshire Drive, a block from Walker’s residence.

Love was found dead in the back seat from multiple gunshots. Wilkins later died from her multiple wounds at a hospital.

Detectives used information from cell phones and neighborhood video to link Walker to the murders. He was arrested about 10 days later. Walker was on diversion-probation for a previous kidnapping conviction at the time of the murders.

The case this week was handled by Chief Prosecutor Theresa McCusker and Felony Asst. Melissa Harris of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 1 which prosecutes cases in General Sessions Division 7 (Veterans Court) and in Criminal Court Division 1.