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Solved November 21, 2016 Homicide

Emma Walker

Status Solved
Type Homicide
Date November 21, 2016
Location Knoxville, Tennessee
Victim Age 16
Gender Female

Sixteen-year-old Emma Walker was shot through her bedroom wall by her obsessive ex-boyfriend William Riley Gaul while she slept. Gaul, a high school football player, was convicted.

On November 21, 2016, sixteen-year-old Emma Walker was found dead in her bed by her parents in their Knoxville, Tennessee home. She had been shot through the wall of her bedroom while she slept.

Emma had recently broken up with William Riley Gaul, 18, a high school football player who had become increasingly obsessive and controlling. In the weeks before the murder, Gaul had engaged in a campaign of harassment, including fake kidnapping threats.

Gaul shot through the exterior wall of Emma's bedroom with a stolen handgun in the early morning hours. He then participated in mourning and vigils for Emma before evidence linked him to the crime.

Gaul was convicted of first-degree murder in 2018 and sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 51 years.

homicide child Tennessee 2010s domestic violence solved
2016-11-21
Emma Walker shot through her bedroom wall while sleeping.
2018-05-09
Riley Gaul convicted; sentenced to life with parole after 51 years.

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