Kaneza Rikial Owens was trying to end a violent relationship when her former boyfriend came to her Macon, Georgia, home and threatened to kill her. She recorded the confrontation, prosecutors said, but he shot her as deputies arrived to help.
Now, more than three years after the 28-year-old mother’s death, Treyvon Walker has pleaded guilty and been sentenced to decades in prison.
Walker entered his plea November 10, shortly before his trial was scheduled to begin and after a jury had been selected. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
His 50-year sentence includes 35 years in prison followed by 15 years of probation, according to Law&Crime’s reporting on the Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s announcement.
Prosecutors said Owens had decided to leave the relationship, but Walker refused to accept the breakup. Threatening text messages preceded his arrival at her home on the evening of May 4, 2023.
Over the following hours, Walker repeatedly threatened Owens in front of two other people, according to the district attorney’s office. Owens captured his behavior on video.
Bibb County deputies responded to a domestic dispute at the Green Meadows Apartments shortly before 4 a.m. May 5. The sheriff’s office said deputies heard a gunshot upon arriving and entered to find Owens unresponsive. She was taken to a hospital, where she died.
Her young daughter was upstairs during the shooting. No one else was physically injured, authorities said.
Walker fled on foot and later acknowledged the shooting in a Facebook post, writing, “Real Life Just Threw My Life Away Just Shot My Girl.” He was arrested days later, and prosecutors said he had the firearm used in the killing.
At sentencing, Owens’ mother described her continuing struggle to understand how someone who promised her daughter love and a future could take her life while her child was nearby.
“I don’t understand,” she told the court.
District Attorney Anita Howard emphasized that Owens had been taking steps to move forward with her life.
“Kaneza Owens did what so many people tell victims to do. She decided to leave, and she was killed for it,” Howard said.
