Memphis man convicted of killing two women after arranging a date

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - A Memphis man who killed two women after he arranged a date with them online was convicted on Friday on two counts of first-degree murder, said Shelby County District Attorney General Amy Weirich.

After a five-day trial, a criminal court jury convicted 26-year-old Darrin Walker on both counts, carrying life sentences.

He will learn on September 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.

The DA’s office says while inside the car, 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 her 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 later found abandoned 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, and indicted on Sept. 9, 2020.

Walker was on diversion probation for a previous kidnapping conviction at the time of the murders.

The case 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.

Click here to sign up for our newsletter!

Click here to report a spelling or grammar error. Please include the headline.