A Douglas County judge on Wednesday sentenced a Topeka man to nearly 52 years for the murder of a Lawrence musician, and the victim’s family members said they were grateful for a sense of justice.
Nicholas Laron Beaver, 34, was found guilty of first-degree murder in July in the shooting of Vincent Lee Walker. The shooting took place March 6, 2024 at the bus stop in the 700 block of Vermont Street, near the Lawrence Public Library.
Walker, 39, was familiar to many in the community, including many library staff members, Lawrence’s police chief had said after the shooting.
He was a musician who performed under the name V-Dubb, and according to his obituary, he was a father of three and a brother to seven siblings.
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Regina Rene James, Walker’s sister, told Judge Stacey Donovan on Wednesday that her older brother wasn’t perfect — but no one is, and his life mattered.
Walker struggled in his adult life, but James said she and her family members, a group of whom attended the sentencing together, loved him at his core.
“No one will ever know about my brother the way we knew about my brother,” James said. “He did not deserve to be shot in broad daylight.”
Walker’s younger brother, Solomon Mattic, also spoke at the sentencing. He told Donovan all his early memories of Walker are fond.
“My brother was a good dude,” Mattic said.
Mattic then began addressing Beaver about how he entered the courtroom Wednesday singing a song and looking toward Walker’s family, seemingly taunting them.
Beaver began interrupting him several times and in one instance blurted out, “The world is a better place without Vincent Walker.”
Razmi Tahirkheli, Beaver’s court-appointed attorney, requested Donovan grant his client a lesser sentence.
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He argued Wednesday that Walker was the aggressor leading up to the shooting and that Beaver’s mental state that day and his PTSD impaired his decision-making.
Donovan ultimately sided with District Attorney Dakota Loomis, agreeing with him that Tahirkheli did not provide substantial and compelling reasons to depart from the norm.
Donovan gave Beaver the maximum sentence based on the violent offense and his criminal history. He will spend 620 months, or slightly more than 51 1/2 years, in the Kansas Department of Corrections.
His 652 days thus far served in the Douglas County jail will count toward his sentence, but he will not be eligible for parole or a sentence reduction for good behavior later on.
Following his release, Beaver will be under supervised parole and will be required to register as a violent offender, both for a lifetime.
Beaver is originally from Topeka but had been staying for a brief time in Lawrence prior to his arrest in this case. He and Walker did not know each other.
According to testimony during Beaver’s preliminary hearing in October 2024, Walker had been arguing loudly with a man who had thrown Walker’s food on the sidewalk. James told Donovan on Wednesday that it made sense why Walker had become increasingly agitated — he loved food.
As friends of the men broke up that scuffle, a man on a bicycle who had been traveling south on Vermont exchanged words with Walker, according to the prior testimony.
One witness testified that he was waiting for a bus and witnessed Walker telling the man on the bike never to talk to him again. The man on the bicycle initially began to ride away, but he instead confronted Walker again.
After looking at videos from cameras in the block where the shooting occurred and comparing it to images of Beaver from a separate incident, detectives used clothing and other evidence collected to identify Beaver as a suspect. Beaver’s DNA was found on the gun used in the shooting.
Beaver argued during his jury trial that he acted in self-defense. Tahirkheli later filed motions for judgment of acquittal and for a retrial. At a hearing on Oct. 10 that was originally scheduled as the sentencing, Donovan heard arguments but ultimately denied both motions.
When Donovan gave Beaver time to make comments at his sentencing Wednesday, Beaver said he maintains he was afraid for his life and shot Walker in self-defense. He told Walker’s family in the courtroom that he would revoke his actions that day if he could and that he was sorry for their loss.
Attributing Beaver’s earlier outbursts to emotions, Donovan said she believed Beaver was truly remorseful for his actions.
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Maya Hodison (she/her), equity reporter, can be reached at mhodison@lawrencekstimes.com. Read more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
Molly Adams (she/her), photo editor, has worked with The Lawrence Times since May 2022. She can be reached at molly@lawrencekstimes.com.
Check out more of her work for the Times here. Check out her staff bio here.
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