LUBBOCK, Texas — Christopher Carmona, 25, pleaded guilty to murder on Monday in the shooting death 23-year-old Walter Harper. Carmona was sentenced to 45 years in prison.
On May 11, 2020, the Lubbock Police Department was called to the area of 50th Street and Bangor Avenue for multiple calls for shots fired, court records stated. According to court documents, officers found a dead man lying on the grass outside of some apartments.
A witness at the scene said he saw a “Black male chasing a white male between
building D at 5401 50th Street.” Court records stated, “The black male stopped on 50th Street and fired a handgun numerous times at the fleeing white male.”
Court records said another witness told authorities she saw a man talking to himself who said something to the effect of, “Come to my apartment and punch me in the nose, I’ll blast your ass again. You f*** with my s***.”
A third witness told police she was in a “dating relationship with Harper and had also been seeing Carmona.” The woman said Harper was at her apartment and Carmona wanted to come over, so Harper started to get dressed and leave.
When Carmona arrived, the two men went outside and argued. The woman told LPD she did not see what happened but heard multiple gunshots, according to court documents. Court records stated the woman asked about it when Carmona returned to the apartment and he told her, “It’s all good. He’s gone.”
When police initially questioned Carmona, he said he did not know anything about the gunshots. Court records said Carmona later told police that he fired shots in the air because Harper was “in the street with a black AR-15 and was standing shooting at him.”
“Video surveillance from the apartment complex was obtained and the video captured the shooting in its entirety,” the warrant said.
Carmona received 1,086 days credit for time already spent in jail.
