A Washington State man will likely be in prison for the rest of his life following his conviction by a Snohomish County jury in the June 2013 slaying of a teenager during what has been described as a “drive-by shooting spree” in which the apparent weapon of choice was a .30-caliber Ruger Blackhawk revolver.
The fatal bullet was never recovered, but investigators did link two of Erick Walker’s handguns to a string of drive-by shootings between the Lake Stevens area, where 15-year-old Molly Conley was gunned down while walking down a road, and Marysville, a community several miles to the west.
Walker was also convicted of nine other crimes, according to the Seattle Times and Everett Herald. Those charges covered the drive-by shootings and armed assaults related to the June 1, 2013 spree.
Detectives recovered at least eight spent .30 Carbine projectiles and matched them to two of Walker’s firearms. Walker, a former Boeing mechanic, was also involved in a hit-and-run crash that night, which partly led to his arrest.
After the verdicts were announced, Conley’s father – carrying a copy of To Kill A Mockingbird – called the manslaughter conviction for his daughter’s death a “miscarriage of justice.”
