Travis Ball, Murder, Virginia 2017

A Weems man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his illegal possession of a firearm that was used to kill Virginia State Police Special Agent Michael Walter in May 2017.

Travis Ball, 30, shot and killed Special Agent Walter during a traffic stop in the Mosby Court public housing community in Richmond on May 26, 2017.

At the time of the murder, Ball possessed a FIE, model Titan, .25 caliber, semi-automatic pistol. Believing that he was wanted in Lancaster County for a probation violation, Ball resisted arrested and shot Special Agent Walter once in the head.

Text messages found on Ball’s cellphone later revealed that two days prior to the murder he told his girlfriend he was not going back to jail and would “end up killing something.”

Special Agent Walter died from the gunshot wound inflicted by Ball on May 27, 2017.

The sentence imposed in this case will run consecutive to the 36 year sentence for capital murder that Ball received in the City of Richmond Circuit Court related to the murder of Special Agent Walter.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the government’s violent crime reduction efforts.

G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Ashan M. Benedict, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Washington Field Division, made the announcement after sentencing by Senior U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Erik S. Siebert and Stephen E. Anthony prosecuted the case.

Defendant: Travis Ball

Criminal Charges: Illegal possession of a firearm used in the murder of Virginia State Police Special Agent Michael Walter

City and State: Richmond, Virginia

Exact Date: May 26, 2017 (murder date)

Sentence or Outcome: 10 years in prison, consecutive to 36 year sentence for capital murder

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/murderer-virginia-state-police-special-agent-sentenced-prison