Mathews County Commonwealth’s Attorney Found Dead Outside Her Home; No Foul Play Suspected
Tina Marie Walls, the elected Commonwealth’s Attorney for Mathews County, was found dead Tuesday morning outside her home, the result of a single gunshot wound to the chest, according to court records and law enforcement officials.
Walls, 58, was discovered lying on the ground next to her black 2018 Ford SUV in the driveway of her residence along New Comfort Highway in the Port Haywood area. The call to 911 came in at 11:29 a.m. from Elizabeth Anne “Beth” Brown, the elected clerk of the Mathews County Circuit Court, who had gone to Walls’ home that morning and found her unresponsive.
Responding deputies and medics confirmed Walls had suffered a suspected gunshot wound to the chest. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
A .22-caliber revolver was located nearby, containing four live rounds and one spent casing, according to a search warrant affidavit filed by Virginia State Police Special Agent Bryan H. Wintermantel.
Investigators also found multiple firearms in plain view inside Walls’ SUV, including a .22-caliber bolt-action rifle and a 9mm handgun loaded with seven cartridges. One additional bullet was recovered at the scene.
Walls’ cell phone was still inside the SUV and could be heard ringing when authorities arrived. A gunshot residue kit was used to collect forensic evidence from her body.
The back door to her home was found unlocked, but a protective sweep by deputies turned up no one inside. Her 14-year-old son, the home’s only other resident, was at school at the time of the incident. Investigators believe the shooting occurred sometime between 7:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.
As of Friday morning, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Richmond had not yet released an official cause or manner of death. However, Virginia State Police have stated they are not seeking any suspects in connection with the case.
Mathews County Sheriff April Edwards, who had a personal relationship with Walls, turned the investigation over to state authorities due to that connection. She emphasized that no foul play is suspected and assured the public there was no ongoing threat. “If the public were in danger, there would have been a countywide alert,” she said.
Walls had taken office as Mathews County’s chief prosecutor in January 2024, following her election in November 2023. A native of Williamsburg, she brought years of prosecutorial experience to the role, having previously served as chief deputy commonwealth’s attorney in both Gloucester and Suffolk.
Her home, a gray single-story house tucked away at the end of a wooded driveway off State Route 14, sits about a tenth of a mile from the main road. It’s a quiet stretch of Mathews County, not the kind of place where tragedy like this typically unfolds.
The investigation remains ongoing, with authorities continuing to process evidence and await final findings from the medical examiner.