After the tragic loss of Janice Walker, a beloved community figure, her family grapples with grief and demands action on road safety as a suspect faces charges.
SAN ANTONIO — More than two months after 70-year-old Janice Walker was run down and killed as she enjoyed an evening on her own front porch, the man accused of crushing her with his Mercedes has been arrested and charged in connection with her death.
Sitting on the same porch, alone, her son Stanley Walker talked about his loss and the aftermath of not feeling safe in his own home.
Stanley, who now shares the home with his 87-year-old grandmother said his mother “had plenty of life left in her.”
Janice, a fixture in the neighborhood for decades, was well known and loved by the people who passed by her on their regular trips to the Dafoste Park trailhead on the nearby Salado Creek trail.
Neighbors said from her perch on her porch, she always had a smile and a bit of encouragement for everyone. “Every day this was her spot, every day,” Stanley said, adding he misses “just sitting and talking to her. She was just real playful, always happy, a real joyful person. I just miss kicking it with her.”
Stanley said he was surprised to learn about the arrest of a suspect in his mother’s death from KENS 5, and not from anyone in the law enforcement community.
Online records indicate 28-year-old Anthony Jarmine Gates was arrested in Victoria County Tuesday.
His charges there include Public Intoxication, Failure to Identify and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
Each of those three charges has a modest $350 bond.
While jailed, he was also charged with an outstanding warrant obtained by San Antonio police for Collision Involving Death for the November 11th crash on Dafoste Avenue that took the life of the well-respected grandmother. That bond has been set at $50,000 and online records indicate a transfer may be in the works to the Bexar County jail.
On the Bexar County Justice Portal his status is listed as having had a “Virtual Booking” on the second-degree felony charge.
Online records don’t indicate a next court setting for Gates.
The arrest affidavit obtained by San Antonio police paints a detailed picture of their exhaustive attempt to bring justice to the family.
Police say Gates was southbound at a high rate of speed on Dafoste Avenue in a 2014 Mercedes he owned, when he failed to negotiate a 90-degree turn in the road.
Walking the street and remembering that night, Stanley said “It came straight down this street going 50 or 60 miles an hour, jumped the curb, didn’t hit his brakes, didn’t try to stop. There were no skid marks in the street.”
After overcoming the 12-inch-high curb, Stanley said, “He went airborne and went straight into the house and my mother was hit right here on the porch.”
The affidavit alleges the vehicle struck Janice, projecting her into the home as the car hit the house.
Two witnesses ran to the woman’s aid and tried to keep Gates from leaving the scene, according to the affidavit, which adds EMS rushed Janice to the hospital, but her injuries were too critical to overcome and she was pronounced deceased just one minute after midnight.
Detectives wrote the vehicle showed no signs of being stolen and there were documents inside belonging to Gates.
One witness told police she knew Janice was outside because a neighbor had just given her a cigarette moments before the crash.
According to the affidavit, those two women told police Gates, who was out of the car, climbed back in and attempted to drive away, saying he was a felon and that he had been drinking.
Both women gave police the same description, a light skinned black male wearing very distinctive glasses.
When witnesses were shown photographs for identification purposes, they were hesitant to pick Gates because they said he wasn’t wearing the same distinctive glasses at the time.
Looking for images of Gates with glasses, a detective wrote he was able to find body worn camera video of traffic stops involving Gates from June and September in which the man was wearing big gold-framed glasses that matched the description given by witnesses. The video puts Gates behind the wheel in the same Mercedes that was left behind at the fatal crash site.
The affidavit also provides a home address for Gates that is about one-half mile from the crash scene.
Beyond his concerns of justice for his mother, Stanley said he is tired of waiting for the city to make safety improvements at the 90-degree turn on Dafoste.
Hoping for peace of mind, Stanley said of the effort by the Public Works Department “I call and call and call, and they said they’re gonna escalate this and do that and do that, but nothing else has happened.”
“They haven’t put any barricades up. They haven’t done anything, so we’re not sure it can happen any time,” Stanley said, adding, “We just have to keep a car parked here to kind of block the way. You never know when it’s gonna happen again. It’s happened three times already, so we don’t really know what to do.”
The department’s spokesman provided a statement that reads: “The Public Works Department has completed an evaluation of Dafoste and will be installing curve warning signs by early March.”
In a previous statement, they admitted to the family’s assertion that a hedge that previously offered some protection from oncoming traffic was removed and not replaced.
The statement reads: “The hedges in the right-of-way at the home involved were removed in 2023 when sidewalks were built.”
Summarizing his hopes for action, Stanley said, “My direct message to Public Works is that it doesn’t take much. It won’t take a million dollars. I don’t know how many more people have to get hurt or what has to happen for them to finally do it.”