16-YEAR-OLD CHEERLEADER EMMA WALKER ENDED HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER FOOTBALL-PLAYER EX — THEN HE SHOT HER THROUGH HER BEDROOM WALL
16-YEAR-OLD CHEERLEADER EMMA WALKER ENDED HER RELATIONSHIP WITH HER FOOTBALL-PLAYER EX — THEN HE SHOT HER THROUGH HER BEDROOM WALL
Emma Walker was only 16 years old, a student at Central High School in Knoxville, Tennessee. She was a cheerleader with a kind heart, a love for children, and a dream of one day becoming a neonatal nurse.
While in high school, Emma began dating William Riley Gaul, a football player at her school. At first, they appeared to be a typical teenage couple. But according to Emma’s family and friends, the relationship became increasingly troubled as Gaul grew controlling, jealous, and aggressive.
Emma’s parents became concerned by his behavior and the disturbing messages he sent their daughter. They eventually banned him from coming to their home and encouraged Emma to end the relationship.
By November 2016, Emma had finally broken things off for good.
But Gaul reportedly refused to accept the breakup.
According to investigators, he continued contacting Emma, sending anonymous and threatening messages and even creating frightening situations in an apparent attempt to regain her attention.
Then, in the early morning hours of November 21, 2016, someone stood outside Emma’s Knoxville home and fired two shots through the wall of her bedroom while she was lying in bed.
One bullet struck Emma behind her left ear.
The second lodged in her pillow.
Later that morning, Emma’s mother, Jill Walker, entered her bedroom to wake her for school and discovered that her daughter had been killed.
Emma was just 16 years old.
Investigators quickly focused on William Riley Gaul, who was 18 at the time, after learning about the couple’s breakup and his increasingly troubling behavior.
Several of Gaul’s friends also came forward with information that raised further suspicion. One told detectives that Gaul had taken his grandfather’s gun. Another said Gaul had asked questions about removing fingerprints from a weapon and getting rid of it.
Investigators also determined that Gaul’s cellphone had been near Emma’s home around 3:45 a.m., close to the time of the shooting.
Two of his friends later cooperated with authorities and helped investigators recover the weapon connected to the killing.
Gaul was arrested on November 22, 2016, one day after Emma’s death.
During his May 2018 trial, Gaul’s defense argued that although he fired the shots, he never intended to kill Emma and had only wanted to frighten her in an effort to get her attention.
Prosecutors rejected that explanation, arguing that the shooting was deliberate and that Gaul knew where Emma’s bedroom was located.
On May 8, 2018, William Riley Gaul was found guilty on all charges, including first-degree murder.
He was later sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of parole for 51 years.
But behind the conviction and the prison sentence was a family left grieving a daughter whose future had barely begun.
Emma’s mother has said she does not want her daughter to be remembered simply as “a murdered cheerleader.”
Emma was a daughter, a sister, a friend, a dedicated student and a young woman who loved children, animals and helping others.
She dreamed of caring for newborn babies one day.
Her family later created a scholarship in her memory, hoping to keep Emma’s spirit and kindness alive.
What began as a teenage relationship ultimately became a story of control, obsession and escalating warning signs — ending in a tragedy that devastated an entire family.
