By WMBD TV

PEORIA – A Peoria man will spend the rest of his life in prison for his part or his lack of act regarding the death of his son who was starved over many months and severely abused.

Brandon Walker showed no emotion and said little after Peoria County Circuit Judge John Vespa handed down the life sentence. Walker must serve 100% of that so barring a successful appeal, he’ll never be a free man again.

“It’s the most that I could give him,” Vespa said in returning his sentence. His voice trembled often throughout the hearing as he frequently noted that he was a father and couldn’t fathom what Walker did.

The 13-year veteran of the bench said it was the worst case he’s seen in his tenure as a judge and that while the law wouldn’t allow him to give Walker the sentence he wanted to give, the life term was the maximum that he could get.”

Walker said nothing when he had a chance to address the judge in his own defense.

Walker, 42, was found guilty in mid-December of first-degree murder. The life sentence was triggered by the Walker jury finding that he acted in a “brutal and heinous manner, indicative of wanton cruelty.”

Also, a higher sentence was already in play — up to 100 years — because of the age of Navin Jones, his son, which was 8. Under state law, that triggers a stiffer sentence.

Navin’s mother, Stephanie Jones, has since pleaded guilty to murder and faces up to 100 years in prison when she’s sentenced on April 25. The plea, just days before Walker’s trial started, took the prospect of a life sentence off the table.

The sentencing hearing

Perhaps the most emotional aspect was the letter read by an court-appointed attorney for Navin’s older brother. In that, he said Navin was the “best brother anyone could have asked for.”

The boy called Walker and Jones “horrible’ and that they should go to prison.

For his part, Walker continued to maintain he did nothing wrong and put all the blame on to Jones, his girlfriend and the boy’s mother.

Assistant State’s Attorney Donna Cruz gave a brief argument, saying Walker’s actions were inexcusable. Cruz, a veteran prosecutor who has spent decades working similar child abuse cases, paused and told the judge was only one appropriate move.

“Natural life.”

Walker’s attorney Gary Morris argued his client wasn’t there often and was a “workaholic” and dismissed text messages between the couple where Jones said she was going to hurt Navin. Walker responded in the affirmative but Morris said there was no concrete evidence of a threat.

There was no solid evidence of what his client knew or didn’t know, only inferences.

What happened

Navin weighed 30 pounds when he was found unresponsive in his North Gale Avenue home on March 29, 2022. The room he was in was tied shut. There was urine and feces throughout the room. He had one bed, one dresser, and one toy in the room. There were marks showing alleged abuse, prosecutors have said, on his face, body, arms, and legs.

The little boy’s bedroom door had a note, saying “Don’t give Navin any food or drink. Do not let him out of the room. He has what he needs until I wake up.” And while his room was deplorable, the rest of the house, prosecutors have said, was “well-furnished.”

Peoria County State’s Attorney Jodi Hoos, when she charged both Walker and Jones in the spring of 2022, said the boy was beaten all over his body and he showed signs of ongoing physical abuse. 

Text messages between Jones and Walker, seized by police off their cell phones show that in October 2021, allegedly stated Walker wanted to put the boy in the basement as punishment for urinating on the wall.

Post Trial Motion

Preceding the sentencing, Gary Morris, Walker’s attorney, argued for a new trial, a necessity if Walker wanted to file an appeal as anything not raised in that motion was forfeited. 

The fireworks between Morris and Vespa continued as they did at trial. Morris passionately argued that his client made a mistake by taking the advice of a DCFS worker who told him that he couldn’t bring his son to the hospital as he didn’t have guardianship. That set the judge off. 

“I can’t believe this claim that I couldn’t get medical care because I didn’t have guardianship. That’s incredible. You would not have been able to stop me if my son needed medical help,” he said, pointing a finger at Morris. 

Then the judge asked why Walker didn’t give Navin back to his grandmother — Walker’s mother — who did have guardianship. Morris replied Laura Walker was out of the picture and wanted nothing to do with the boy.

WMBD can be reached at [email protected].