Man who punched teacher pleads not guilty of murder charge

Martin L. Walker, pleaded not guilty Thursday and asked for a jury trial at the conclusion of his preliminary hearing.

Court Commissioner Carl Greco found probable cause and continued the case to an April 29 pre-trial hearing.

Walker is charged with felony murder in the death of middle school teacher Colin Byars on Feb. 21.Witnesses have testified that Walker punched Byars in the face outside of a Kenosha tavern.

The punch knocked Byars down to the pavement where he hit his head, causing death.

Walker was arrested hours later in Racine and held on a probation violation until charges were filed. Two other men with Walker that night turned themselves in and are being held on probation violations; they have not been charged in the altercation that led to Byars death.

Keys to effective searching

Use Search to find articles published on Kenoshanews.com

Choosing the right search terms is the key to finding the information you need.

Type the word you would like to search into the box and click Search

Being as specific as you can will give higher quality search results.

Use quotes: Wrap your search term in quotes to search for that specific item

You do not have to type common words and characters such as "where" and "how", as well as certain single digits and single letters, because they tend to slow down your search without improving the results.

The word NOT excludes search words. E.g. search "Dan brown" NOT "Gordon brown."