Man kills 14-year-old after asking about sex, leaves her in field, FL officials say

A man picked up a 14-year-old girl in the middle of the night, asked if she was having sex, then killed her in a vacant field, Florida authorities said.

Ronny Tremel Walker, 47, now faces the possibility of the death penalty after a jury convicted him of first-degree murder in the 2022 fatal shooting of 14-year-old Nilexia Alexander in Tampa.

Walker’s defense attorney declined to comment to McClatchy News on June 24.

Prosecutors’ case rested in part of the testimony of Robert Quincy Creed, the only witness to the shooting, who pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact, Hillsborough County records show.

Creed testified during the trial that he was riding in Walker’s car on May 6, 2022, as Walker drove around looking for the 14-year-old runaway, prosecutors said during the trial broadcast by WTSP.

Nilexia’s adoptive mother testified that when the girl was 11, she started running away looking for her biological parents.

While Nilexia’s mom said she didn’t know Walker, her daughter did.

“She was 14 years old, and she got in the car of a man who she trusted,” Assistant State Attorney John Terry said. “The wrong man, but a man she trusted.”

Walker picked her up at about 3 a.m., then drove to a street that dead ended in a vacant lot, and Creed said Walker asked the girl if she was having sex, according to prosecutors.

The teen said no, Creed testified, according to prosecutors.

The accounts of what happened next diverged, with Creed testifying that Walker first shot the teen in the car then had her get out and shot her multiple times outside the car. But Walker’s defense attorney said there was no evidence that a bullet was fired inside the car.

“Mr. Creed’s entire story of how this occurred has reasonable doubt written all over it,” she said.

What police know is Nilexia was found dead by someone who heard the gunshots and found the girl lying in the vacant field, according to court records. She had been shot multiple times, including in the head, police said.

Then cell phone records showed her phone continued to travel inside Walker’s car after she died, according to police.

“The fact that he drove her to the location he drove her to tells you all you need to know, but if you weren’t completely convinced at that point that is premeditation, because why else is he driving Nilexia Alexander to that spot other than to kill her and dump her body in that vacant lot...” Terry said.

Walker’s defense attorney argued that prosecutors did not provide “the tools necessary to prove that” Walker was responsible for Nilexia’s death.

She said Creed was motivated to testify against Walker for a lighter sentence himself.

Ultimately, the jury found Walker guilty. Now, they must decide whether Walker should be sentenced to death or life in prison.

This story was originally published June 24, 2025 at 5:34 PM with the headline "Man kills 14-year-old after asking about sex, leaves her in field, FL officials say."