Danville man facing life in prison for 5 guilty verdicts

URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — A Danville man is facing life in prison after he was found guilty in federal court for numerous crimes, including murder.

34-year-old Kevin Marshall was convicted by a jury for carjacking, meth possession with the intent to distribute, firearm possession during and in relation to drug trafficking, and possession of firearms by a convicted felon.

He was also found guilty of murdering 28-year-old Daniel Walter of rural Indiana.

On April 25, 2020, Marshall, his girlfriend, and Walter were all riding in Walter’s Ford F-150 to the area of Ray Street and Delaware Avenue in Danville. Once they arrived, Marshall told Walter to get out of the truck because he wanted to talk.

Walter exited the vehicle, then Marshall shot him four times.

Marshall and his girlfriend started to drive away in Walter’s truck, but then Marshall demanded her to stop. He went back to Walter, shot him five more times, then took his phone and ID.

Walter was found dead at the scene several hours later, along with shell casings matching a Taurus 9mm handgun. Walter was not identified until the following day.

Meanwhile, Marshall and his girlfriend took Walter’s truck to Belvidere the day after the murder. The truck broke down on April 29, 2020 and they abandoned it. The vehicle was recovered by Belvidere Police the same day.

It wasn’t until August 18, 2020 that Marshall and his girlfriend were arrested during a traffic stop at a Casey’s gas station in Danville. Police found the Taurus 9mm handgun in Marshall’s possession. They also located a Colt .45 and several dozen methamphetamine pills in a black fanny pack. Evidence showed that the pills were just a few out of 1000 that Marshall had bought and sold earlier that summer.

Marshall tried to put all the guns and drugs at the feet of his girlfriend upon the arrival of law enforcement, but to no avail. Officials later learned that he also obtained the Colt .45 to distance himself from Walter’s murder weapon, making his girlfriend carry the Taurus 9mm instead.

While in pretrial custody, Marshall manipulated his girlfriend into writing three letters to law enforcement “confessing” that the guns and drugs belonged to her, but that she was unaware of Walter’s murder. Marshall was also captured over recorded phone calls arranging to have these false letters sent to his attorneys.

Marshall remains in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Dec. 9, where he could be given life imprisonment.

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