Family, Friends Hope For Justice After Man Was Killed In SE OKC Park

The search for justice continues after a man who was found murdered in an Oklahoma City park.

Antonio Walker was found dead Friday morning in a southeast Oklahoma City park.

Friends told News 9 they're still unsure of the motive behind his death.

His friends said it's hard to imagine anyone taking advantage of him.

“Even on the football field, just his walk, his aura always embodied confidence,” said D’Andre Foster, a friend.

Foster and Walker grew up together and bonded over sports.

Video taken in high school showed Foster bat down a field goal attempt, and then Walker run it in for the winning touchdown.

“We became lifelong friends,” said Foster.

While Foster remembers Walker as an incredible athlete, Walker's life changed forever when Oklahoma City police went to his mother's home, armed with a warrant for one of his friends in 2006.

Walker attempted to leave.

“He tried to run through the back door. There’s an officer there at the back door. He dives on the ground. He was shot in the back and paralyzed,” said Foster.

Now paralyzed, Walker struggled to adjust.

“He would cry about, 'I don't want to be this way. I didn’t ask to be this way,'” said Foster.

Then in 2015, his father was shot to death when he went to check on his then-30-year-old wheelchair-bound son. Police said Walker was in possession of drugs and was the intended target.

“He had some emotional, mental and spiritual struggles with getting past that,” said Foster.

But despite his adversities, Foster said Walker continued to fight.

“I always admired how he fought to even smile, to still crack jokes,” said Foster.  

On Friday, Foster got the call. His friend was gone; found dead in southeast Oklahoma City park.

“I remember coming home and turning on the TV and feeling pain for his mother, because she was there jumping up and down frantically screaming, 'that's my baby, that's my child,'” said Foster. 

While no arrests have been made, Foster said he's sure someone knows something.

“He didn't drive himself there. He didn't wheel himself into the park on his own,” said Foster.

Anyone with information about the homicide case is asked to call the homicide tip line at 405-297-1200.

A vigil is planned for 7 p.m. Thursday at McCracken Park.