It had been just like any other night.
16-year-old Emma Walker, a popular, bubbly Central High School cheerleader, went to sleep in her bedroom at her family’s Tennessee home just like she had so many nights before but this time, the teenager would never wake up.
When she didn't rouse the next morning, Emma’s mother, Jill Walker, went to check on her and discovered she was dead.
They d had a tumultuous relationship while dating, court records show. At the time of the murder, Gaul was attending Maryville College.
Authorities portrayed him as a jealous and possessive ex-boyfriend who harassed Walker. She was shot through a wall of her home as she slept.
Gaul s attorney, Wesley Stone, filed a motion to acquit the young man or give him a new trial three years ago. Knox County Criminal Court Judge Bob McGee retired in late 2019 and then COVID-19 hit.
Stone has raised numerous reasons why his client should be acquitted or given another trial including the jury not being sequestered for a case that drew national attention, a crime scene photograph of Watson, objection to coverage by Law and Crime and McGee s refusal to toss some of the grand jury s counts against Gaul.
They seemed like picture-perfect high school sweethearts, but their toxic relationship ended in murder
• 26 min read
A high school cheerleader and football player s tumultuous relationship: Part 1
Emma Walker s friends say her then-boyfriend Riley Gaul became aggressive in the way he spoke to her.Courtesy Walker Family
At Central High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, a Friday night in autumn means a football stadium bathed in lights and two teams battling it out on the gridiron in front of a sea of red and black everyone decked out in support of the home team, the Bobcats. (On Fridays) everybody s excited at school to see how well we do. It s what our school revolves around, said Seth Armstrong, a recent Central High graduate who played for the team. It s exciting.