A Hazelwood man is being held without bond at the Warren County Jail after Missouri State Highway Patrol investigators connected him to a body discovered along U.S. Highway 67 in St. Francois County. Albert Levar Walker, listed as 40 years old, faces first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and abandonment of a corpse charges in connection with the death of Destiny S. Hooker, a 47-year-old Fairdealing woman, according to local reporting on the case.
Officers discovered a deceased body along U.S. 67, just north of the St. Francois County fairgrounds, on September 5, according to the Park Hills Daily Journal. The Leadington Police Department requested that the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control take over the investigation, a request local departments are authorized to make under Missouri law when a case crosses jurisdictional lines, according to the State of Missouri. The DDCC, established in 1983 to expand the Highway Patrol's reach into complex felony and cross-county investigations, coordinated directly with police departments across both Warren and St. Francois counties, per the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
How Investigators Identified the Victim
Hooker was identified through a National Crime Information Center check after she had been entered as a missing and endangered person out of Wright City, roughly 100 miles north of St. Francois County along Interstate 70 and U.S. Route 67. Entering a missing person into the NCIC database automatically flags that individual across nationwide law enforcement networks, allowing agencies to cross-reference cases in real time, according to the City of Berkeley, Missouri. That system is what allowed state troopers in St. Francois County to rapidly match the body found along Route 67 to the missing-person report filed roughly 100 miles away.
The Wright City Police Department had already taken Walker into custody on unrelated charges — unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of controlled substances — and transported him to the Warren County Jail for questioning, the report noted. Wright City investigators then contacted the Division of Drug and Crime Control, whose investigators reviewed evidence and identified Walker as a person of interest. According to MSHP, investigators placed Walker in the area where Hooker's body was recovered, and from there developed probable cause connecting him to her death.
Charges and What Missouri Law Requires
Once investigators built their case, they contacted the St. Francois County prosecutor for felony-charge consideration, and a subsequent arrest warrant was issued for Walker. The prosecutor formally charged him on September 5 with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, and abandonment of a corpse. Walker remains incarcerated at the Warren County Jail without bond as the case continues.
Under Missouri Revised Statute § 565.020, first-degree murder is a Class A felony that carries a mandatory sentence of either death or life imprisonment without eligibility for probation, parole, or conditional release, according to Combs Waterkotte. Prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant acted knowingly and after deliberation to secure a first-degree murder conviction. The armed criminal action charge adds its own weight: Missouri Revised Statute § 571.015 sets a mandatory minimum of three years in prison, which must run consecutively — not concurrently — with any sentence for the underlying felony, the same source notes. Separately, abandonment of a corpse without notifying law enforcement or a coroner is classified as a Class E felony, the least severe felony category under Missouri's charge code system, per the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
A Case Spanning Four Corners of the State
The investigation stretched across a wide swath of eastern and southern Missouri. Walker lived in Hazelwood, in northern St. Louis County, about 50 miles east of Wright City along the Interstate 70 corridor. Hooker, meanwhile, was from Fairdealing, an unincorporated community in Ripley and Butler counties more than 80 miles south of St. Francois County near the Arkansas border, in the state's Ozark region.
The Wright City and Leadington police departments both assisted with the investigation alongside DDCC investigators. The case fits within a broader state push to coordinate cross-county violent crime response: Executive Order 25-02, signed in January 2025, expanded Missouri's Operation Relentless Pursuit initiative by pairing DDCC investigators directly with county sheriff departments across all nine Highway Patrol troops, according to the Missouri Department of Public Safety. That initiative funds liaison officers meant to streamline communication and fugitive apprehension across municipal borders.
The stretch of U.S. 67 near the St. Francois County fairgrounds has drawn scrutiny before; Hoodline previously reported on a fatal fire crash at that spot. As with all suspects, Walker is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Anyone with information about the case is asked to contact Cpl. J. Ashby at 636-300-2800 or by email at [email protected]. This remains a developing story.
