Man found guilty of killing girlfriend, shooting police officer

On Aug. 1, 2019, Otis Walker shot and killed his girlfriend, 27-year-old Aleka Simmons before shooting a responding officer four times.

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Editor's note: The video above is from the initial reporting of the shooting.

A man was found guilty in DeKalb County Wednesday for the 2019 murder of his girlfriend and for shooting a police officer four times leading to an ensuing weeklong manhunt.

The DeKalb County District Attorney's Office said in a release that 32-year-old Otis Walker was convicted on all charges by the jury -- murder, aggravated assault, three counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

On Aug. 1, 2019, Walker shot and killed his girlfriend, 27-year-old Aleka Simmons, before officers were called out to the home along Hodgdon Corners Cove in Lithonia in the early morning hours. It was then the responding officers were fired upon by Walker, where Officer Derek Nunn was shot four times.

The officers then retreated to cover before SWAT arrived and they got inside the home and found Simmons had been shot in the chest. Nunn was rushed to Grady Hospital where he recovered from his injuries.

The investigation revealed that several 911 calls were made the night before on July 31. Around midnight, Simmons called 911 and said, “This is Aleka Simmons, if anything happens to me…” The dispatcher could then hear arguing in the background and Simmons asking, “Are you threatening me? You’re gonna kill me?”

DeKalb County Police Department responded to the home but left after they found it to be both quiet and dark with no signs of a disturbance, the DA's office stated in the release.

Walker's mom was sleeping inside the home when another family member knocked on her bedroom door to let her know that police had come by to check on a potential disturbance. She then walked to the bedroom where her son and Simmons were staying and saw tensions rising between the two, according to the DA's office.

Prosecutors said Walker's mom offered to give her son a ride elsewhere to cool off the situation. Walker then told his mom he would talk to the police about the incident and closed the door, according to DA's office. A few minutes later, she heard gunshots from her bedroom door and found Simmons critically injured. The DA's office release said that Walker had previously been arrested for battery and told his mom he did not want to go back to jail.

Walker's mom and the other family members rushed out of the home and to a neighbor's house where she called 911. Walker shot 19 rounds at police before he ran off into the woods, evidence showed. He was found a week later on Aug. 8, 2019, the DA's office said.

At the media briefing, police said Walker was caught at a gas station near the area of the original shootings.

When police found him, they said Walker had a hand-written note on himself that apologized to Nunn and DeKalb Police for what he had done. He told police he shot Simmons out of self-defense and claimed he shot at the ground in the direction of the officers so they would shoot and kill him, which the DA's office said was later disproved.

After the incident happened in 2019, Sgt. Erwin of the DeKalb Police Special Victims Unit spoke about the problem of domestic violence.

"No one deserves this kind of pain, and your first step to breaking free is recognizing your situation is abusive," she said.

She offered several resources for domestic violence victims:

Walker will be sentenced in front of DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Yolanda Parker-Smith, who presided over the trial, on Oct. 25 at 9 a.m.