HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Harrisburg police arrested 19-year-old Glenn Walker III over the weekend, a suspect in the killing of Police Chief Thomas Carter's nephew.
On March 26, 36-year-old John Thomas Carter was shot and killed after he left a store. On Saturday, police arrested Walker, but this isn't his first run-in with the law.
He is charged with criminal homicide and carrying a firearm without a license.
Dauphin County District Attorney Ed Marsico said, "Walker had been charged previously by Harrisburg police with two different incidents. One involved the shooting in late December of 2015 and the other involved the drug case from January of this year."
Walker was arrested in January for that shooting in December outside of a bar. Several vehicles were damaged, but no one was hurt. He was only assigned a $25,000 bond and posted it.
Marsico and Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse in 2014 recommended a $100,000 bail for convicts who are prohibited from carrying a firearm or for anyone carrying a firearm without a license.
Papenfuse said, "We have to work much harder to combat this epidemic of illegal gun violence and that requires the district justices doing what's right and taking these crimes seriously and increasing the bonds."
Marsico said, "We focused more on the former convicts which did not fit this particular charge. However it's still a charge where we would've liked to see higher bail."
Walker's court date for the December shooting was set for March 25 - only a day before Carter was killed.
"Certainly it's troubling when someone is already involved in the court system and they commit another crime. Unfortunately it's not all that unusual anymore," Marsico said.
Papenfuse hopes this teaches a lesson to magisterial district justices. He said Walker was clearly going to be a repeat offender.
Papenfuse said, "Those are the individuals we have to keep behind bars, we can't let them back out on the streets, and if we'd done it, I think we would've saved a life in this instance."
We reached out to the judges who lowered Walker's bails after previous arrests, but they were unavailable for comment.
Walker was denied bond after his arrest on Saturday.