MARTINEZ — Two years after prosecutors charged an Antioch man with killing his wife and son in their apartment, a third victim has been added to the case: the woman’s unborn child that authorities have now seen was at least seven weeks pregnant.
John Henderson Walton Jr., 36, now faces three murder charges and special circumstances charges for allegedly bludgeoning 30-year-old Alexis Parson and 15-year-old Malik El-Ameen to death. At the time of Walton’s arrest in 2022, Antioch police specifically noted in a press release that an autopsy determined Parson was “not pregnant.” Prosecutors now say it was a mistake.
To establish that Parson was pregnant, prosecutors hired Dr. Jeffrey Traynor, an expert in maternal-fetal medicine, to review the autopsy and other evidence and write a report. It was Traynor’s work that helped convince Judge Rebecca Hardie to ask Walton to answer to all three counts of murder during Walton’s preliminary hearing in April, according to authorities and court records.
Walton is next scheduled to appear in court on May 23 for arraignment. He remains jailed without bond, according to court records.
Walton was arrested in February 2025 for allegedly killing the two victims, who were found dead in their Antioch apartment from blunt force trauma. According to authorities, a neighbor heard Parson say she was reluctant to let Walton into the home and the two then got into an argument.
Just over seven weeks earlier, Walton had been released from prison after pleading no contest to attempted vehicle theft as part of a plea deal that resulted in the dismissal of two carjacking cases against him in Contra Costa, according to court records. Prosecutors say Parson and Walton knew about the pregnancy and that she had several doctor’s appointments, including an ultrasound.
At the time of Walton’s arrest, police noted that he had a warrant for his arrest for alleged domestic violence in Georgia.
A trial date will be set sometime after Walton’s arraignment in late May.
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