Family Copes, Prays for Healing & Justice in Possible “Hate Crime”
The local NAACP awaits a full investigation
Written by Sharon Tubbs
For now, all they can do is support each other and pray. That’s what Tony Sanders told the Fort Wayne Ink Spot when asked how his family was coping with the recent vicious attack against his younger brother, DeMarcus Walker.
Circumstances surrounding the seemingly random assault have led family members and others to deem it a hate crime. They believe Walker’s skin color made him a target.
It happened March 7 at the Walmart on Apple Glen Boulevard, on Fort Wayne’s southwest side by Jefferson Pointe. Walker, 44, lives nearby and had stopped to purchase a few items that Saturday morning, said Sanders. As he walked back to his car after 10 a.m., a man in a red Impala ran into him, then got out of the car and started beating him with a metal bat, according to news reports. A witness brandished a gun to stop the violent beating, causing the suspect to get back into the Impala and flea. Shortly afterward, police found and arrested Levi Arnold, a 21-year-old white man from Bluffton. He was charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery, and resisting law enforcement in a vehicle.
Shortly before it happened, Sanders said, other witnesses had reported a man in a ski mask suspiciously roaming the area.
A hate crime?
“Most definitely,” Sanders said. “He (DeMarcus) didn’t know the guy. We didn’t know the guy. He had no affiliation with us… Marcus happened to be the only black person that walked out by himself, so he chose Marcus as his victim. I think that’s what the case was.”
Family members have talked with the local NAACP about their hate crime suspicions. President Sheila Curry-Campbell confirmed that the organization’s legal redress committee received their complaint.
“The NAACP takes all complaints very seriously and will release a statement after a full investigation has been completed,” Curry-Campbell said in a written statement.
The Fort Wayne Police Department did not respond to a call for comment from the Ink Spot, but officials have told other news outlets they’d found no evidence of a hate crime at this time.
Walker is part of a well-known African American family in Fort Wayne. His father, Houston Walker, was a brother of the late Rev. Samuel Walker, a community leader and former pastor of Jerusalem Baptist Church. Family members, including DeMarcus Walker, still attend that church, Sanders said.
The current pastor of Jerusalem, Maurice E. Culver, shared his sentiments in a statement to the Ink Spot.
“Our church is in prayer for Bro. Demarcus Walker and his family. His family has been a pillar of our church and community. We are praying for his physical healing and the emotional healing for his family and our community. We (are) praying and joining in solidarity with our local NAACP and community leaders that justice will be served but most importantly that healing will take place both mind, body and soul.”
As for Walker’s physical healing, the beating left massive injuries thought to be life-threatening at one point. After just a few hours at Lutheran Hospital, doctors flew him to Indianapolis.
“They said the plastic surgeon here couldn’t do what the plastic surgeon in Indianapolis could do,” said Sanders. “He needed emergency plastic surgery.”
Sanders and other family members hopped in their cars and headed to Indianapolis to be by his side. Since then, Walker’s brothers, sisters, uncles, cousins, and other loved ones have visited.
Recently, Sanders said, Walker was finally up and moving around, although he still couldn’t talk. In the beginning, Sanders remembers “the swelling and the stitches and the staples on his head.” But the swelling in his face and head have subsided, and he was beginning to “look like Marcus again.”
Still, the recovery process will take more time, and therapy is needed, Sanders said.
Sanders described his brother as a former Snider High School football player who grew up to be a hard-worker and a maintenance supervisor for New Generation Management. Walker, he said, is a good father who loves his two daughters, ages 19 and 9.
He is a quiet man, Sanders said. “We just keep to ourselves. We don’t bother nobody.”
Since the assault family members have supported one another. “We just get together, sit around, console each other, and pray,” Sanders said. “I just hope justice gets served.”
They wished they could remain by Walker’s side, but the Indianapolis hospital where he was being treated went on lock-down over the weekend. Officials wanted to minimize spread of the novel corona virus, so hospital doors closed to visitors, Sanders said.
The lockdown is “kind of sad,” he said. “We need to be there… We just want to be there with our brother.”
The family has created a GoFundMe account to raise money toward Walker’s medical bills and expenses that aren’t covered by insurance. To donate, visit GoFundMe.com. Search for “Justice for Marcus,” and click on the Fort Wayne, IN profile.
