Update: Murder of Master Trooper Junius Walker

A man was convicted in the murder of Master Trooper Junius Walker

Update: Murder of Master Trooper Junius Walker.

Virginia State Police Master Trooper Junius Walker had stopped beside a disabled vehicle shoulder of southbound Interstate 85 in Dinwiddie when he was shot by Russell Brown in March 2013. Trooper Walker hit the gas, and his vehicle sped forward into the nearby woods, with its tires still spinning. Brown then approached Trooper Walker and continued to fire into the vehicle, killing Trooper Walker. Responding officers got into a gunfight with Brown before he was taken into custody.

The initial incident occurred in March 2013, and after a long legal process, Brown was just convicted in the murder of Trooper Walker. He was charged with capital murder of a law enforcement officer, attempted capital murder of a law officer, three counts of use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and attempted murder.

Brown’s sentencing is still pending.

Brown’s trial was drawn out because he had initially entered an insanity plea, based on bipolar disorder. After all, how could we hold this man accountable for his crime if he is bipolar? Brown had claimed that God told him to kill Trooper Walker, and during his interrogation, Brown told the interviewing trooper that he would be the next to die. Brown was initially determined to be incompetent to stand trial, but the court reversed that decision in March 2015, which allowed the trial to proceed.

Brown’s friends and family believed that he had just been going through so much stress in his life, that he had just snapped. They don’t believe that Brown committed a targeted attack on law enforcement, but he was mad at the world and took it out on a man who had stopped to help him.

This was a tragic situation that never needed to happen. Hopefully Brown’s conviction can bring some closure to Trooper Walker’s family.

Trooper Walker, your life mattered.