This photo provided by Lawrence police shows a small SUV thought to be associated with three men who were being sought in connection with three armed robberies Monday, June 6, 2016. A shotgun was used in each of the robberies, police said.

Jurors on Friday failed to agree on whether to convict a man charged with a trio of armed street robberies, including one in which a dog was shot dead, last year in Lawrence.

The trial of Pierre P. Walker, 20, ended in a hung jury, with the decision being announced shortly after 12:30 p.m. Friday, according to the court. Walker is scheduled to be retried on Oct. 16.

Walker, 20, was charged July 11, 2016, in Douglas County District Court with three counts of aggravated robbery and one count of cruelty to animals, all felonies. According to the charging document, on June 6, 2016, Walker allegedly was armed with a shotgun when he stole property from three people.

The three victims testified Tuesday that they were out walking at different locations in southwest Lawrence around 5 that morning when they were robbed at gunpoint. In one case, one of the robbers shot and killed the victim’s dog, Phoebe, whom the victim was taking for her usual morning walk.

Pierre Walker

Three suspects in a small SUV allegedly committed the crime spree, according to victim testimony and previous information from Lawrence police.

Walker is the only person who has been charged in connection with the case.

Following closing arguments in the case Thursday morning, jurors deliberated from about 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., at one point returning to the courtroom to hear some testimony read back. Deliberations continued through Friday morning.

None of the three victims was able to provide a complete description of any of the men who robbed them.

Verdell Taylor Jr., pastor of Lawrence’s St. Luke AME church, however, testified that once he saw a photo of Walker accompanying a newspaper story he was certain Walker was the man pointing the shotgun in his face outside the Holcom Park Recreation Center that morning.

“Those are the eyes that I’ll never forget,” Taylor said during his testimony.

In closing arguments, prosecutor Eve Kemple described “a mountain of circumstantial evidence” pointing to Walker as one of three men who took part in the crime spree. 

That included a sawed-off shotgun, shells matching the one used to kill Phoebe, some of the victims’ stolen items and paperwork connected to the suspect vehicle found inside a Kansas City, Kan., house leased in Walker’s name. Kemple said there were also Facebook messages between Walker and the other men suspected in the crimes.

But defense attorney Mike Clarke argued that there were gaps in the evidence. He said, for instance, that Walker’s fingerprints were not found on the vehicle, and a pay stub found in the Kansas City house listed Walker’s address in Edwardsville, suggesting that Walker didn’t actually live in that house.

A shotgun shell found by Phoebe’s body and the gun found in the house police identified as Walker’s were tested for fingerprints and DNA, but neither resulted in sufficient evidence to link items to a particular person, according to testimony given by Lawrence police representatives earlier in the week.