Murder of Emma Walker

Emma Jane Walker, a 16-year-old junior at Central High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, was shot and killed in her bedroom in the early hours of November 21, 2016, in the city's Sterchi Hills neighborhood. Walker died of a gunshot wound to the side of her head, behind her left ear.

Walker and William Riley Gaul, a former Central High School student then attending Maryville College, had dated on and off for about two years after meeting in the fall of 2014. Friends and relatives said the relationship grew increasingly possessive and toxic, and Walker's parents grounded her and barred contact with Gaul in October 2016 because they considered it harmful. Walker attempted to end the relationship in November 2016; Gaul resisted, at times threatening suicide, and continued contacting her anonymously after their breakup, including falsely claiming he had been kidnapped. Days before the shooting, Walker told friends by text that she was frightened after a man dressed in black approached near her home.

On November 18, 2016, Gaul took a 9mm Glock handgun from his grandfather's vehicle. Early on November 21, he traveled from his college dormitory to Walker's house and fired two shots into the area of her bedroom where she slept; one bullet struck her head. Walker's mother found her unresponsive that morning and called 911, and the death was initially reported as a possible suicide. Knox County Sheriff's Office investigators, including lead detective Allen Merritt, found a second bullet hole and shell casings outside the house and determined the death was a homicide.

Investigators identified Gaul as a suspect through his relationship with Walker and information from his friends that he had taken his grandfather's gun. After Gaul denied involvement, two of his friends agreed to wear recording equipment for detectives; one of them recorded Gaul retrieving the hidden gun and other items, including gloves and dark clothing, shortly before Gaul was arrested.

Gaul was indicted on seven charges, including first-degree murder, felony murder, tampering with evidence, and stalking. His trial opened in Knox County Criminal Court on April 30, 2018. Prosecutors argued Gaul planned the shooting out of anger over the breakup, while the defense did not dispute that Gaul fired the shots but argued he had intended to win Walker back. On May 8, 2018, a jury convicted Gaul on all charges, and the presiding judge immediately sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 51 years. In February 2023, the Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Gaul's murder conviction while modifying his felony theft conviction.

The case drew national attention as an example of teen dating violence and was later profiled by several television news programs. Walker's former school and a local hospital have since established a memorial scholarship and dedicated spaces in her name.