Summary of Offense:
Robert Walker was convicted and sentenced to death for the drug-related beating, kidnapping, and murder of David Hamman. On the evening of January 26, 2003, David Hamman, Leslie Ritter, and Loriann Gibson arrived at the apartment of Joel Gibson in the city of Palm Bay in Brevard County, Florida. Already inside were Gibson, Walker, and his girlfriend, Leigh Ford. Immediately following the arrival, Walker and Ford attacked Hamman beating him with various objects including a metal Maglite flashlight and a blackjack. Suspecting Hamman to be a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, the couple forced Hamman and his companions to strip off their clothes in order to search for wires. After the search, Ritter and Loriann Gibson were confined to the back bedroom and Walker and Ford continued the attack, which lasted two to three hours. Sometime around midnight, Hamman escaped the apartment and ran a short distance down the road before being caught by Walker and Ford. The couple laid a tarp in the trunk of Ford’s car and forced Hamman to get in. Driving separately, Ford in her car and Walker in Hamman’s pickup truck, the couple reconvened at the Tom Lawton Recreation Area, a state park. Upon arrival, Hamman was forced, hands bound, to lie down with his back to the ground. Walker then shot Hamman six times in the face with a Llama .45-caliber pistol.
Upon returning to the apartment, Walker asked Loriann Gibson and Ritter to drive him to Georgia in Hamman’s truck. They acquiesced, driving him as far as Live Oak, Florida, before leaving him at a gas station when he exited the vehicle to purchase a map. The two women then alerted a law enforcement officer of the events that had transpired the night before. Walker’s description was released and he was apprehended that morning at the Live Oak bus station. Walker’s recorded confession of shooting Hamman was played for the jury at trial. Loriann Gibson and Leslie Ritter also provided testimony in court.
Walker was sentenced to death on December 13, 2004.
Co-defendant information: Leigh Ford, convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, is currently serving two life sentences and a 15-year sentence.
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