A work-related dispute in a hotel parking lot turned deadly on December 19, 2024, when 27-year-old Lawrence Jonte Walker was shot during an argument at the SureStay Hotel on Wernsing Road in Jasper, Indiana. Walker, a Cleveland, Ohio native, was employed by an external contracting company and was in Jasper working with a larger crew who were staying at the hotel.

According to reports, the confrontation began about 2:00 p.m. between Walker and a 20-year-old coworker, Jakahri Keyshaun Curry of Macon, Georgia. Witnesses said Curry allegedly produced a firearm and fired five to eight shots. Walker was taken to Memorial Hospital and Health Care Center, where he died of his injuries. Police arrived minutes after the shooting, found Curry inside the hotel and took him into custody without incident.

Curry was held and on December 23, 2024, was formally charged with one count of murder and ordered held without bond. The Jasper Police Department is leading the ongoing investigation with assistance from local and state agencies. Did anyone who worked with Walker or stayed at that hotel notice tensions among the crew before December 19?