A York County judge refused to accept a negotiated 12-year plea deal for Walter Duncan, the man charged with felony DUI resulting in death in a crash that killed 66-year-old Bruce Walker, declaring flatly that 12 years was not enough punishment for the case in front of him.
The rejection came after the judge heard details of Duncan's driving and drug-conviction history, according to WSOC-TV. Prosecutors said Duncan was driving 82 mph in a 45-mph zone when he hit the back of Walker's car on August 12, 2025, killing him. They also said Duncan's blood alcohol level measured 0.13 several hours after the crash, already above the legal limit at that point and presumably higher at the time he was behind the wheel.
A Record Stretching Back to 1989
The solicitor's office laid out a criminal history that stretched back decades: seven previous DUI convictions and four marijuana convictions dating to 1989. Matthew Shelton, with the 16th Circuit Solicitor's Office, told the court that Duncan had been driving under the influence and using drugs for 35 to 40 years and still had not changed course. “He has not learned anything,” Shelton said, per the station's report.
That history appears to be what tipped the judge toward rejecting the negotiated sentence outright rather than accepting the 12-year term prosecutors and the defense had worked out. The judge refused to accept the agreement, saying the number did not match the weight of Duncan's past convictions or the circumstances of Walker's death, the same account notes.
Family Says the Deal Was Never What They Wanted
Walker's family applauded the judge's decision. His nephew, Randy Vickers, said he never wanted the plea deal in the first place and described the terror his uncle may have experienced in the moments before the crash, according to the outlet's coverage.
For Walker's relatives, the case has never just been about a number of years attached to a sentence. Vickers' account of what his uncle likely went through underscores why the family pushed back against a deal they viewed as insufficient given the facts prosecutors laid out about Duncan's speed and blood alcohol level.
How South Carolina Defines Felony DUI
Under state law, felony driving under the influence applies when a person operates a vehicle while alcohol-impaired to the extent that their driving faculties are materially and appreciably impaired, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Safety. The agency also notes that a conviction for driving with an unlawful alcohol concentration carries the same penalties as a standard DUI conviction under state code.
It remains unclear what happens next in Duncan's case now that the judge has rejected the negotiated term, since the dossier of reporting on this case does not specify whether a new plea, a trial, or further hearings will follow. What is clear, based on the judge's own words in open court, is that the 12-year figure prosecutors and the defense had agreed to was deemed inadequate for a defendant with Duncan's history.
