Case Profiles #64
Reality Shabazz Walker
Reality Shabazz Walker was 19-years-old and living with his five siblings and grandmother in Springfield, Massachusetts. He had graduated from Springfield Academy High School, and in 2010, was studying to become a medical assistant at the American Career Institute. He was described as being eagerly social and wanting to talk to anyone about anything you could think of. On November 30th, 2010, Reality left his home on Leslie Street around 10:30 p.m. to go visit some friends at a nearby building complex. Unfortunately, less than two hours later, police would be dispatched to a building at that same complex for reports of multiple gunshots fired. Upon arriving to the scene, officers discovered Reality laying face down in the grass, shot several times: once in the head, once in the chest, and once in each leg. Within five months of the murder, four men between the ages of 17 and 19 were arrested in connection with Reality’s death. By May of 2013, all four men would be either acquitted from the murder or have the murder charge dropped altogether. Reality’s murder remains unsolved to this day. Anyone with information about the murder of Reality Shabazz Walker is asked to please call the Police Detective Bureau at (413) 788-6355. Those who wish to remain anonymous may text a tip to “CRIMES,” or “274637,” and typing “SOLVE.”
Twana Smith
On October 20th, 1997, the body of 29-year-old Twana Smith was found behind an abandoned building at 20 Ashley Street in Hartford, Connecticut. A police officer was flagged down at around 5:00 p.m. by a woman who had been approached by a group of kids that had made the initial discovery. The building was in the Asylum Hill area of Hartford, an area known at the time for drug dealing and sex work. The responding officer followed the woman as well as the kids who found the body around the back of the building and down a set of stairs to a room with cement walls. Twana’s body had been left among garbage and debris from the abandoned house, and it was clear even from afar that Twana had been stabbed multiple times. It was also clear that Twana had fought back against her attacker as hard as she could. While she was clothed, her jeans had been pulled down to above her knees. Twana was a sex worker and had a history of arrests relating to this, and it was speculated that she was working when a client attacked and killed her. Her autopsy revealed that she was beaten extensively and was stabbed 31 times in her face, back, neck, and hands, which corroborated the fact that she fought back as hard as she could. Police felt that the attack and autopsy results indicated that her attacker was full of rage. She had been stabbed through her clothing but her pants and underwear had been pulled down. Whether she had sexually assaulted was difficult to determine. Police explored multiple leads including Twana’s boyfriend at the time, the possibility that there could be a serial killer as multiple other sex workers had also been found brutally murdered, and even the possibility that the woman who flagged down police to report Twana’s body being found was responsible. Twana’s case is still unsolved. Anyone with any information about the murder of Twana Smith is asked to please contact the Hartford Police Department’s Major Crimes Division at 860-757-4000 or the Cold Case Tip Line at 860-722-TIPS (8477).
Image sources:
masslive.com - “Violence prevention workers: Murder victim Reality Shabazz Walker represents high-risk, hard-to-reach demographic”
fox61.com - “Cold Case: Twana Smith”