Mother says her slain son was her ‘angel, protector’

CEDAR RAPIDS — Heather Valentine said her son, Michael Lee Valentine, was her “angel, a bright soul” that was taken from her April 10 when he was fatally shot by Dimione Walker.

“He made me happy,” the mother said in a victim impact statement during Walker’s first-degree murder sentencing Friday. “He was a good son. He was kind, loving, adoring and affectionate. He was a goofball sometimes. He was my protector. Now I have nobody.”

Heather Valentine said her 25-year-old son was a changed man when he returned home about a month before the shooting after serving more than five years in prison for federal charges. He was trying to be a better man. He was a good father for the time he had with his son, she said.

She then told Walker, “I forgive you for what you did.”

Walker, 29, of Coralville, looked down when she said that. Last month after hearing the jury verdicts, he smiled and laughed, showing no remorse. During his sentencing, he was solemn.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Andrew Chappell sentenced Walker to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder conviction, and five years each for going armed with intent and felon in possession of a firearm. He ran all the charges concurrently because of the life sentence.

Chappell said this was a “heinous crime and completely unjustified.”

Walker declined to give a statement during sentencing.

During trial, Walker claimed self-defense. The defense argued that Valentine had been involved with firearms in the past and Walker felt Valentine was a threat to him that night when he saw Valentine come in the club.

In her closing argument, Assistant Linn County Attorney Rena Schulte said Walker “executed” Valentine, shooting him seven times in a matter of seconds inside the club.

Valentine “never had a chance,” she said. “He didn’t know Walker was about to end his life.”

A video, played for the jury throughout the trial, showed that as Valentine and his friend made their way through the crowd, Walker started moving around and went toward an exit but didn’t leave.

Schulte, in her closing, asked if Walker was afraid of Valentine, as his lawyer said in arguing the case for self-defense, why he didn’t go out the door.

“He had so many opportunities to make a different decision,” Schulte said.

The Linn County jury returned a verdict in less than 90 minutes of deliberations following the weeklong trial.

There were 10 others also injured during the club shooting. Another man, Timothy Rush, 32, of Cedar Rapids, is charged with killing Nicole Owens, 35, and Marvin L. Cox, 31, the same night.

Rush’s trial is set for March 28.

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