Death Penalty Trial Delayed for Pasadenan Accused of Murder

Scheduled for a sexual assault and murder trial Monday, March 26, 2012, Pasadena resident Derrick Valentine, 39, accused of strangling 35-year-old Melodie Walker to death after sexually assaulting her in her Las Vegas valley home, will have his Clark County, Nev. trial on October 22, 2012 in instead.

Clark County Deputy Public Defender Edward Kane, lawyer to Valentine, said to Judge Michael Villani that the defense team was not ready for the trial, and that the team is still waiting for the results of the psychological tests taken by Valentine in order to proceed with the trial.

Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lalli urged the judge to reschedule the trial sometime in October, prompting Villani to set the new trial for 1 p.m. October 22, 2012.

Valentine is currently held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center facing one count of murder as well as two counts of sexual assault with regards to Walker’s death.

Valentine was arrested January 22, 2010, after a security guard alerted police upon finding Valentine and Walker in the victim’s home along Pearl Cotton Avenue in Las Vegas Valley. The security guard was dispatched after a burglar alarm had been triggered.

According to Walker’s autopsy as performed by the Clark County coroner’s office, Walker was indeed strangled to death.

Arresting officers and a security guard at the preliminary hearing in March 2010 had also testified to Valentine’s erratic story about the incident, having changed it several times upon questioning.

The security guard testified to Valentine saying that he had allegedly been assaulted by “a big white guy” who had come in and hit him over the head before pouring chemicals down his throat.

A Las Vegas Metro Police detective however testified that Valentine’s story to the police was different. In it, the detective said Valentine admitted to wanting to perform a sex act on Walker but she wouldn’t allow it, leading to his choking of the victim. The detective also testified that Valentine said he attempted to clean up the blood, and of wanting to die, causing him to drink some of the cleaning solution.