Tarrant County jury finds Keith Haynes guilty of capital murder of ex-girlfriend, unborn child
FORT WORTH - A Tarrant County jury has found Keith Haynes, 33, guilty of the 2017 capital murder of his ex-girlfriend and her unborn child.
On Dec. 11, Haynes received an automatic sentence of life without the possibility of parole for the crime.
Haynes fatally shot Kenishia Walker in bed at her Arlington home on April 14, 2017. The 25-year-old single mother was pregnant with his child. Walker's 8-year-old son discovered her body.
"This was Easter weekend," Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Allenna Bangs told the jury. "It is about Spring and new life. Kenishia had a new baby coming. And the Friday before Easter, just like the first Easter, Kenishia was betrayed. She had no idea when Mr. Haynes called, asking her to leave the door unlocked for him, that she was being set up."
Haynes was arrested at his Plano apartment a few days after the murder.
"He was such a coward, killing her and his unborn baby," Bangs said. "Kenishia is important. The unborn baby's life was important. And they both mattered."
Walker reportedly told friends and family that she feared Haynes would kill her. She even sent screenshots of text conversations she had with him to a friend that said: "If I ever come up dead please show the police this and other screenshots."
"This case is not a mystery," Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Sarah Sherman told the jury. "All the evidence has pointed to one person."
DA Investigator Victor Espino-Nevarez and Victim Advocate Clara Salvatierra worked on the case as well.