Man who killed Utah officer sentenced in new prison attack

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SALT LAKE CITY — A man already serving a life sentence for killing a Draper police officer has been ordered to additional time in the Utah State Prison after he and other inmates attacked a fellow prisoner last year.

Timothy Troy Walker, 41, was sentenced to at least five years and up to life in prison Monday in Salt Lake City’s 3rd District Court, court records show.

On Thursday, a jury found him guilty of aggravated assault by a prisoner, a first-degree felony. He and two other inmates, including a man who once ran over a Springville officer, joined up to stab a fourth inmate at least six times on April 28, charging documents said.

In 2014, Walker pleaded guilty to killing Draper Police Sgt. Derek Johnson and was spared a death sentence in return. Johnson had spotted Walker’s car broken down and pulled over to see if he could help, but Walker ambushed Johnson before the sergeant could get out of his vehicle.

Third District Judge Elizabeth Hruby-Mills ordered Walker’s new sentence to run consecutively to his current life sentence.

The same jury found Jordan Gailey, 30, guilty of an identical charge, plus two more counts of having an item prohibited in a correctional facility and obstructing justice, both first-degree felonies.

Gailey was sentenced to at least 10 years and up to life for aggravated assault and lesser terms for the other charges, with enhanced penalties of at least 15 years for gang affiliation, using a dangerous weapon and dealing bodily injury.

Police said Decker and Gailey entered the cell of another inmate and “began kicking and striking” the inmate in what appeared on surveillance video to be a “stabbing” motion. Prosecutors alleged Walker stood at the cell entrance as lookout, according to court documents, and struck the inmate in the face as he tried to leave.

The attacked inmate, who suffered “substantial blood loss,” was taken to a local hospital.

Another inmate, 23-year-old Corbin Chandler Decker, struck a plea deal with prosecutors in October after agreeing to testify against Walker and Gailey. He pleaded guilty to aggravated assault by a prisoner, a first-degree felony, with both parties agreeing to seek a reduction to a third-degree felony at his sentencing Dec. 9. He also admitted to a reduced charge of having an item prohibited in a correctional facility, a third-degree felony.

In 2016, Decker was using drugs in a parked car when two Springville officers approached him. He drove off with one officer hanging out of his vehicle and then intentionally hit a second officer, police said. He was ordered to consecutive sentences of one to 15 years on four counts, including assault on a police officer.