Joshua Reneau received two life terms without parole and more than 53 additional years for crimes tied to two deaths.
LOS ANGELES, CA — A Los Angeles man convicted in a crime spree that included a deadly carjacking and police pursuit was sentenced Friday to two terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, nearly four years after 63-year-old Larry Walker was killed.
Joshua Reneau, 36, was also sentenced to 53 years and four months in prison on additional charges, according to reporting from the sentencing hearing. Reneau had been convicted of multiple felonies, including two counts of murder with special circumstances, assault, robbery and carjacking. The sentence closes a major chapter in a case that began with a robbery investigation in the San Fernando Valley and ended with Walker’s death during an October 2022 police pursuit.
Walker, a La Habra resident, was killed Oct. 13, 2022, after Reneau fled from a vehicle that had crashed during a police pursuit and took Walker’s SUV in South Los Angeles, according to police and prosecutors. Authorities said Walker became caught in a seat belt as he was forced from the vehicle. He was dragged beneath the SUV as Reneau drove away while officers pursued him.
The pursuit continued for more than two miles before Reneau struck several police vehicles and the stolen SUV overturned near Florence and Prairie avenues in Inglewood, authorities said. Walker was found near the crash scene and pronounced dead. Reneau remained inside the disabled vehicle during a lengthy standoff before surrendering to officers. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries from the crash.
Police had been looking for Reneau in connection with a July 29, 2022, robbery and shooting investigation in Reseda. Investigators said two people were wounded during that incident and survived. Earl Hunter, who authorities said was involved in the robbery, was shot by a security guard and later died. Reneau and two other defendants were charged with murder in connection with Hunter’s death under the prosecution’s theory of the case.
On the day Walker was killed, homicide detectives obtained a warrant for Reneau and later saw him get into a Toyota Prius, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Officers attempted to stop the car, but the driver fled. The Prius eventually crashed near Florence and Haas avenues. Reneau then ran from the vehicle and took Walker’s SUV, beginning the second portion of the pursuit.
The circumstances of Walker’s death prompted questions from his family about the police response. In the weeks after the crash, relatives called for an independent review of how officers handled the pursuit and why Reneau had not been arrested before he entered the vehicle that fled from police. The LAPD said at the time that it was deeply saddened by Walker’s death and that the incident would be reviewed for compliance with department policies and procedures.
Walker was remembered by relatives as a husband and father whose work included helping people with autism and behavioral needs. At Reneau’s sentencing, members of Walker’s family described the lasting effect of his death. His daughter, Jamien Walker, told the court she struggled to understand how someone could take her father away from his wife and children.
Walker’s wife, Gaynell Walker, also addressed the court before the sentence was imposed, criticizing Reneau’s disregard for human life. The sentencing came almost four years after the carjacking and pursuit, and the court imposed the maximum punishment reported in the case: two life sentences without parole plus 53 years and four months for the remaining offenses.
With the prison sentence imposed Friday, Reneau faces no possibility of parole on the two life terms. The sentencing marks the latest confirmed court action in the case stemming from the 2022 robbery investigation, carjacking and deadly pursuit.
Author note: Last updated September 19, 2026.