Mathews Commonwealth’s Attorney Marie Walls died from an apparent gunshot wound Tuesday morning at her home in the Susan area of Mathews County.
According to a release from the Virginia State Police, there is no indication at this point in the investigation that a suspect is involved. The incident remains an open and active investigation, said the release.
The Mathews County Sheriff’s Office turned the case over to the state police to investigate, said Sheriff April Edwards, because it had to be turned over to someone not personally involved with the deceased. She said that state police officers are conducting an exhaustive analysis of the firearm and any other evidence in the vicinity and will also take the results of the autopsy into consideration. Until all of that information is complete, she said, they will not release any information. However, Edwards said she wanted to assure the public that there was nothing to indicate that any foul play was involved in the incident.
“If the public were in danger, there would have been a countywide alert,” she said. “But that was not the case.”
Edwards said that first responders to the scene conducted CPR on the deceased, but all attempts to resuscitate were unsuccessful. An ambulance responding to the scene had an accident and was unable to continue, she said, and a second unit had to be dispatched. Walls’s body was then taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond for an autopsy.
Edwards said that Walls deserves to be recognized by the people of Mathews for the work she did, and she hopes the community will have the opportunity to attend a memorial service in the county.
“I’ve never seen a commonwealth’s attorney like her,” she said. “It leaves a hole in the community.”
On her personal Facebook page, Edwards said that she had lost a friend. She recounted campaigning with Walls, working a double homicide together, and staying busy “cleaning up Mathews, one case at a time.”
“The county lost a damn good prosecutor,” said Edwards. “She was the best I have ever seen.”
Tom Bowen, chairman of the Mathews County Board of Supervisors and former Mathews Commonwealth’s Attorney, said that Walls’s death “is a profound loss for Mathews County and the Commonwealth of Virginia.” He wrote of her devotion as a mother who was “deeply involved in her 14-year-old son’s life and her local community.”
He also wrote of her professional life, saying, “As one of the state’s most seasoned prosecutors, Marie was a powerhouse advocate for children and victims of sexual assault. Her career was defined by her expertise; she previously led the child abuse program at the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters and served as a certified instructor, training law enforcement and fellow prosecutors on the proper method of interviewing child victims.”
Bowen described Walls as “a woman of incredible drive” who worked her way through law school and graduated with distinction. Beyond that, he said, “she was a cherished friend whose presence will be missed by all who had the privilege of knowing her.”
Mathews Director of Elections and Voter Registrar Carla Faulkner, whose office adjoined that of Walls, said they had gotten to be friends.
“I had the honor of working next door to Marie for the past two years and came to know her not only as the commonwealth’s attorney but as a true friend,” said Faulkner. “She was one of the most compassionate, intelligent and dedicated women I have ever met. Marie was a phenomenal prosecutor who served our community with integrity and heart.”
Beyond that, said Faulkner, Walls was “a mother—a mother who worshiped the ground her son walked on. The love she had for him was evident in every conversation, every story, every proud smile when she spoke his name.”
Faulkner said that Mathews has “suffered a tremendous loss with her passing.”
“Marie’s presence, her wisdom, and her kindness will be deeply missed by so many,” she said. “Our community is better because of her, and she will never be forgotten.”
Walls’s personal Facebook page was flooded with messages of sadness, grief, and condolence, with individuals speaking of her exemplary record as a prosecutor and her kindness as a friend and confidante.
About Walls
Walls, 58, was a lifelong resident of Virginia, according to a webpage she maintained for her 2023 election. She grew up in Williamsburg with her parents and her sister and brother.
After graduating from the University of North Dakota School of Law, Walls lived on Virginia’s Eastern Shore and worked in public interest law as a legal aid attorney. She also worked with the Williamsburg and Hampton offices of the Peninsula Legal Aid Center, now known as the Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia.
After working in public interest law, she became a prosecutor in Suffolk while teaching at Christopher Newport University and the Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary.
Walls served a stint as the executive director of the Child Abuse Program at the Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, but returned to the Suffolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office. She was a certified instructor on how to interview children related to child abuse and neglect.
In 2021, she became the Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney for Gloucester County. Two years later, she was elected Mathews County’s Commonwealth’s Attorney, defeating the late Conrad Bareford III in the November 2023 general election with 62.63 percent of the vote.
Going forward
A spokesman in the Mathews County Clerk of Courts office said that court was held on Wednesday, with Monique Donner, chief deputy commonwealth’s attorney for Gloucester, filling in and handling whatever matters she could. Most of the cases were expected to be continued, said the spokesman.
According to the Code of Virginia (24.2-228.1-F), because Mathews has no deputy commonwealth’s attorney to take over in the wake of Walls’s death, the judges of the circuit court will make an interim appointment to fill the vacancy until a special election can be held (24.2-227). The governing body of the county, in this case the board of supervisors, “shall petition the court to issue a writ of election to fill the vacancy” within 15 days of the occurrence of the vacancy (24.2-228.1-A). The special election “shall be held promptly,” says the code (24.2-682-C), but can also be scheduled for the November general election at the request of the board of supervisors (24.2-228.1-A).