photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Nicholas Beaver appears at a hearing on Feb. 28, 2025, in Douglas County District Court.

A Lawrence man’s charge has been upgraded to first-degree murder in connection with a shooting in March of 2024 after a prosecutor argued that there was evidence to show the killing was premeditated.

Nicholas Laron Beaver, 33, was ordered in October 2024 to stand trial on one count of second-degree murder and one count of misdemeanor battery, as the Journal-World reported. He is is accused of killing Vincent Lee Walker, 39, shortly after 5 p.m. on March 6, 2024, at a bus stop in the 700 block of Vermont Street.

photo by: Contributed

Vincent Lee Walker

At the hearing in October, Deputy District Attorney David Greenwald had asked the court to bind Beaver over on the more serious charge of first-degree murder, but Judge Stacey Donovan initially declined. But after that hearing, Greenwald filed two additional motions asking Donovan to reconsider. On Feb. 19, he asked the court again and said that, if necessary, he could present further evidence that he said would indicate premeditation. Specifically, he said he could present a video that wasn’t played at the hearing in October, which he said would show Beaver disengaging from Walker before turning around again to shoot Walker.

On Friday, Donovan said she had considered Greenwald’s argument and reviewed transcripts from the October 2024 hearing, and that she had found probable cause to upgrade Beaver’s charge.

Beaver appeared shaken by the new charge, and the court took a brief recess so he could consult his attorneys, Razmi Tahirkheli and Angela Trimble.

While Donovan granted Greenwald’s request to increase the charge, she denied his request to consolidate the murder case with a separate theft case. In that case, Beaver is charged with five misdemeanor counts of using someone else’s credit card to shop at various stores downtown in the days leading up to Walker’s death. Greenwald had asked the court to allow him to try both cases at the same time, so that he could show the jury surveillance footage of Beaver buying the clothes that Beaver was seen wearing at the time of the shooting.

Donovan said that prosecutors could use the surveillance footage and explain to the jury that Beaver purchased the clothes in question, but that prosecutors could not tell the jury about the allegations that they were purchased using a stolen credit card, since Beaver has not been convicted in that case.

Donovan then scheduled Beaver’s trial in the murder case to be held on July 21, 2025. Beaver is currently in custody at the Douglas County Jail on a $1 million bond.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Nicholas Beaver appears at a hearing on Feb. 28, 2025, after his charge was increased to first degree murder in Douglas County District Court.