60-Year-Old Black Man Arrested for Murdering White 19-Year-Old UC Berkeley Student Without Any ‘Warning or Provocation’

 

A 60-year-old black man has been arrested for the murder of a 19-year-old UC Berkeley student.

On Monday, the Alameda County district attorney’s office filed felony charges against Berkeley resident Tony Walker for the June murder of UC Berkeley student Seth Smith.

According to authorities, Smith was walkining in southwest Berkeley when Walker approached him from behind and shot him at close range in the back of the head. Berkleyside reports that law enforcement has said the random killing was done without any warning or provocation.

“On Monday, the DA’s office charged Walker with murder and several other felony firearms violations, according to court records reviewed by Berkeleyside. Walker, a felon on probation who lived within a few hundred feet of where the homicide happened, at Dwight Way and Valley Street, was prohibited from having guns or ammunition because of his criminal record,” Berkeleyside reports.

Walker’s criminal record spans decades and includes assault with a deadly weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Smith was pronounced dead at the the scene.

“My son never felt like there was anywhere in Berkeley that was unsafe to walk,” his mother, Michelle Rode-Smith, told Berkeleyside on Monday.