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Left: Janaya Baker (GoFundMe). Right: Malik Coleman (Reno police).
Malik Coleman, aged 20, received a life sentence on Monday for the murder of 18-year-old Janaya Baker in Reno. According to the Washoe County District Attorney’s Office, Coleman will have the chance for parole after serving 28 years, as detailed in a press release.
On the night of November 16, 2023, Reno police responded to a shooting at an apartment complex on North Virginia Street shortly after 8 p.m. Officers discovered Baker outside her apartment with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. It was revealed that Baker had ended her relationship with Coleman about two weeks prior and had taken his name off the lease.
Security footage captured Coleman entering Baker’s apartment at around 5 p.m. while she was at work. He waited for over two hours for her return. Audio evidence documented Baker questioning Coleman’s presence with, “What are you doing here?” immediately followed by the sound of a gunshot. Coleman was recorded leaving the scene shortly afterward and even messaged Baker’s mother to inform her of the shooting.
Surveillance video showed Coleman enter Baker’s apartment around 5 p.m. while Baker was at work. He waited for more than two hours for her to come home. Audio captured Baker asking Coleman, “What are you doing here?” followed by a gunshot. Coleman was seen leaving the apartment a short time later. He also texted Baker’s mother that she had been shot.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Nicole Hicks asked the judge to impose the life sentence with the chance at parole.
“Not one year, not one minute, or one second less,” she said.
Baker turned 18 about two months before the shooting.
“She had her whole life ahead of her,” her cousin wrote on GoFundMe.