Murderer now faces federal charges

TEXARKANA — A man convicted of capital murder in Miller County is now scheduled for trial on two federal crimes.

Tarus Melek Walker, the gunman in a Christmas Day 2022 fatal shooting, is charged by the U.S. government with a firearms violation and one count of bank robbery.

Trials are scheduled for July 22 on the firearms charge and Aug. 26 on the bank larceny charge in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas. Chief Judge Susan Hickey is assigned to both cases.

Alex Wynn is Walker’s court-appointed defender.

The firearms charge is in connection with the Ruger 9 mm handgun that authorities say was found on Walker during his arrest on April 26, 2023, in the Dec. 25, 2022, shooting death of Aaron Bruce at Brook Hollow Apartments, 2511 E. 24th St., in Texarkana. The firearm was “shipped and transported in interstate commerce,” according to the federal indictment.

“Tarus Walker, knowing that he had been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, did knowingly possess” the gun, the indictment states.

At the time of his arrest, Walker, 26, was on probation for robbery and domestic battery charges out of Miller County, according to state jail records.

The larceny charge stems from a theft from a Relyance Bank branch.

Relyance does not operate branches in Texarkana.

Walker on or about Jan. 20, 2022, “did knowingly and intentionally receive and possess approximately $28,650 of United States currency which had been taken and carried away,” according to the indictment.

Charlie Robbins, public information officer for the Western District of Arkansas, said no other details about either the firearms or larceny charge would be shared publicly.

Walker is serving a sentence of life without the possibility of parole for Bruce’s murder. He is being held at the state’s Ouachita River Unit in Malvern, where U.S. marshals arrested him March 6 on the firearms charge and March 8 on the larceny charge.

Walker pleaded innocent to both charges during an arraignment March 20 before federal Magistrate Judge Barry Bryant, according to court records. He appeared in court via videoconferencing.

Walker originally was scheduled for trial May 13 on the gun charge and May 20 on the larceny charge. Trial dates were rescheduled after Wynn filed motions of continuance.

A conviction on the firearms charge is punishable by up to 15 years in federal prison, Robbins said. The maximum penalty for the bank robbery charge is a fine and up to 10 years in prison.