MARTINEZ — Two years after prosecutors charged an Antioch man with murdering his wife and son inside their apartment, a third victim has been added to the case: the unborn child of the woman who authorities now say was at least seven weeks into a pregnancy.
John Henderson Walton Jr., 36, now faces three murder charges and special circumstances enhancements for allegedly bludgeoning to death 30-year-old Alexis Parson and 15-year-old Malik El-Ameen. At the time of Walton’s arrest in 2022, Antioch police specifically noted in a news release that an autopsy determined Parson was “not pregnant.” Prosecutors now say that was wrong.
To establish that Parson was pregnant, prosecutors hired Dr. Jeffrey Traynor, an expert in maternal and fetal medicine, to review the autopsy and other evidence, and draft a report. It was Traynor’s work that helped convince Judge Rebecca Hardie to hold Walton to answer on all three murder counts at Walton’s April preliminary hearing, according to authorities and court records.
Walton is next due in court on May 23 for an arraignment. He remains jailed without bail, court records show.
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Walton was arrested in February 2022 for allegedly killing both victims, who were found dead in their Antioch apartment from blunt force trauma. According to authorities, a neighbor overheard Parson stating she was reluctant to let Walton into the home and the two later argued.
A little more than seven weeks earlier, Walton had been released from jail after pleading no contest to attempted vehicle theft in a plea deal that got two Contra Costa carjacking cases against him dismissed, court records show. Prosecutors say both Parson and Walton knew of the pregnancy and that she’d done to multiple doctor’s appointments, including an ultrasound.
At the time of Walton’s arrest, police noted that he had a warrant for alleged domestic violence in Georgia.
A trial date will be set some time after Walton’s late May arraignment.