What happened to Budda Baker’s brother? Tragic killing still a weight on wantaway Cardinals star
On April 22, 2018, Budda Baker tried to call his brother Robert after attending a former college teammate's birthday party with his girlfriend. He didn't get an answer. Moments later, his phone rang with a call from Robert. Yet, it wasn't Robert.
One of Robert's friends was screaming into the phone that he had been shot. Baker urged the friend to let him speak to the detective. It was too late. Robert was declared dead as he was being taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. It was near this time that Baker's mother, Michelle, was already there at the hospital.
When an employee delivered the news to her, Michelle Baker bawled and passed out. Everything, she says, "went blank." Budda's mother needed her own room at the hospital to recover:
"Because I was just overly devastated."
Budda Baker could not stop crying for a week following his brother's death. The Arizona Cardinals safety was supposed to attend offseason workouts that year but was unable to leave his bedroom. Micaela Castain, his girlfriend, tried to get him to eat. Baker refused and dropped 14 pounds.
The brother of #Cardinals safety Budda Baker was shot and killed outside a Seattle bar this morning. Police say there is an investigation ongoing and no further details are available. Awful.
Baker's sadness changed to anger. He needed to know who took the life of his older brother. He wiped away those tears, calling anyone he knew. He searched for clues. He felt he was focusing on a possible suspect, only to uncover that he was incorrect. Ultimately, he chose to head back to Arizona for the workouts:
"I was in a very dark place. I had to fly back...or else I would've done some dumb stuff."
Upon his arrival, teammates, coaches, and everyone within the Cardinals organization tried comforting Baker, but he only grew angrier. This is a gaping hole. This loss. None of them could remotely understand how he felt:
"They try to comfort you, but then you just get angry. It's like, 'You don't know how it feels. Why are you trying to comfort me?'"
When Budda Baker lost his brother for the first time in August 2009, his brother left him with a gift in a courtroom. The judge had just sentenced Robert to eight years in prison. Before being taken away in handcuffs, Robert asked the officers if they could take off the belt and hand it to Budda. They did so and gave Baker the belt, who was 13 when his brother went to prison.
Did authorities find Budda Baker's brother's killer?
In May 2018, prosecutors charged 25-year-old Christopher Gates with first-degree murder and first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors called Robert Baker's death "a targeted and premeditated killing." Gates shot him 10 times.
Court documents outlined what happened on April 22, 2018:
"Video from a nearby pot shop shows a bright flash, then second(s) later Mr. (Robert) Baker falls to the sidewalk. A second video captured Gates within two minutes of the shooting. He was walking hand-in-hand with a woman, and at one point, Gates began to skip."
Gates later pled guilty to Baker's murder at trial. As of now, Gates has not been sentenced. Time will tell as to whether Budda Baker and his family will get that much-needed closure.