DES MOINES, Iowa — The trial of Preston Walls, one of two teenagers charged in the Starts Right Here shooting, begins Monday.
Walls is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and criminal gang participation in connection to the shooting deaths of 18-year-old Gionni Dameron and 16-year-old Rashad Carr in January 2023.
Walls is accused of allegedly shooting both students and injuring founder Will Keeps. The second teenager charged in connection to the shooting, 19-year-old Bravon Tukes, is accused of driving the getaway car.
The trial begins Aug. 28 at 9 a.m. at the Polk County Criminal Courts Building.
Here's what else you need to know prior to Walls' trial.
What happened at Starts Right Here?
Two students, Gionni Dameron and Rashad Carr, were fatally shot on Jan. 23, 2023 at Starts Right Here, a community outreach center for local youth. Founder Will Keeps was also injured in the shooting.
Polk County court documents indicate Walls brought a gun to the education center on Jan. 23. When Keeps tried to approach Walls and escort him out of the building, Walls produced a handgun.
Walls proceeded to shoot the three victims before fleeing the scene, documents say. Police located Walls and his handgun shortly after the shooting.
Later, Des Moines police revealed they believe the suspects and the victims belonged to two fueding gangs.
Tukes and Walls both belonged to the Strap Gang, while Dameron and Carr both belonged to OMB (Only My Brothers), according to police.
When is Bravon Tukes' trial?
Previously, Tukes was set to stand trial alongside Walls. However, a judge ruled in April that Walls would be tried separately from Tukes, so Walls could be called to testify by Tukes' defense lawyers.
Like Walls, Tukes is charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder and criminal gang participation.
Tukes' trial is currently set for early October.
Who is founder Will Keeps?
Will Keeps, whose given name is William Holmes, launched Starts Right Here in 2021 to help kids who are otherwise falling through the cracks of the educational system.
Keeps spoke with Local 5 just a month after the shooting, emphasizing that his organization is a place where students go and should feel safe.
"What happened was a tragic situation, it shouldn't have happened," Keeps said. "These kids feel like it's their home, and I want to keep that going."
However, in May, the victim's families filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Keeps and Starts Right Here, alleging that Keeps failed to protect the two teenagers from harm.
The suit also claims that Keeps failed to operate Starts Right Here in a "reasonably safe manner," claiming that Keeps knew another student meant to harm Carr and Dameron.
Keeps issued a statement to Local 5, writing, "I am surprised and deeply hurt that these families would sue me individually, and Starts Right Here. I am crushed that after being thanked for helping to save and change the lives' of their sons that I am now their target. My focus is on our students - being shot did not distract me and neither will this lawsuit."
Keeps wants people to remember the victims for what they were working on.
"That those kids were growing, and they got caught up in the street life. The growing part needs to be just as powerful," Keeps said.