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WARREN -- An appeal was denied this week by the 11th District Court of Appeals for a Warren man hoping to come home after being convicted of shooting at two police officers during an October 2020 chase.
The decision upholds a 36- to 40-year prison sentence for Mehki Walker, 22, of Northwest Boulevard, who was found guilty in October by a Trumbull County Common Pleas Court jury.
Walker was convicted of two counts of attempted aggravated murder, each with three firearm specifications; two counts of felonious assault, each with three firearm specifications; and one count of failure to comply. The jury also found that he was guilty of discharging a firearm at a peace officer. That specification earned Walker an additional seven years in prison.
According to the October 2020 trial testimony and police reports, Warren police officer Mario Matash was on patrol near Northwest Boulevard when he heard four gunshots close by on the northwest side of town.
Those shots were fired at a sheriff's cruiser driven by deputy Ken Romo. Matash and Romo have since left their respective departments.
As Walker attempted a turn onto Norwood Street NW during the chase, his vehicle went chase, his vehicle went off the road and into a ditch. As the suspect got out of the vehicle, reports state, he threw the firearm behind him and ran in the opposite direction.
During trial, Walker's defense attorney denied that Walker was the driver.
The defense pointed out that four to six people's DNA had been found in the car and the state did not test DNA from the steering wheel, the gear shift, keys, radio or inside door handle. She said the DNA evidence does not prove who was in the car, where or when.
In his appeal, Walker outlined six points of contention toward his sentence. Walker took issue with the jury pool claiming it to be "tainted" because one of them knew him and his family; he took issue with another who he said lived in the neighborhood of the shooting, among some of his claims.
The panel of judges consisting of Judges John J. Eklund, Matthew Lynch and Eugene A. Lucci disagreed with this assessment and found the case was not harmed by an impartial juror. The appeals court also ruled that evidence used during the trial against Walker was sound, and his defense counsel was effective despite his claims to the contrary.
Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Sanders argued the case before the appeals panel. Walker is incarcerated at Mansfield Correctional Institution.