The case began with a 911 call from Riverside Plaza and ended with a guilty plea.
KEENE, N.H. — A homicide investigation that began with a 911 call from a Winchester Street parking lot ended when Thomas Pickford pleaded guilty and received a 27-years-to-life sentence.
The case moved through three public stages over 11 months. First, police investigated the early morning shooting death of 17-year-old Christian G. Walker on June 25, 2025. Next, prosecutors announced that a juvenile had been charged with second-degree murder. Finally, on June 3, 2026, the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office said Pickford, then 18, pleaded guilty in Cheshire County Superior Court to reckless second-degree murder.
The first official account came hours after the shooting. Authorities said Keene police, New Hampshire State Police and the Attorney General’s Office were investigating a suspicious death in a parking lot on Winchester Street. Officers responding to a 911 call found Walker, of Orange, Massachusetts, suffering from an apparent gunshot wound. Emergency workers took him to Cheshire Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at 1:49 a.m. that day.
By that afternoon, the autopsy had supplied key facts for the case. Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Abigail Alexander determined that Walker died from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen. The death was ruled a homicide. Officials did not immediately release a full account of the confrontation, but they said the people involved had been identified and that there was no known threat to the general public. The public record at that point left the motive, the weapon and the suspect’s name unknown.
The second stage came when the Attorney General’s Office announced an arrest. The suspect was described as a juvenile because Pickford was 17 at the time of the shooting. Prosecutors said the juvenile was charged under juvenile laws with second-degree murder in connection with Walker’s death. The office cited state law limiting what could be released about juvenile court records. The announcement also repeated that the shooting had happened early June 25 in the Winchester Street parking lot.
More details emerged as the case approached its final hearing. Prosecutors said Pickford had arranged to meet an ex-girlfriend at Riverside Plaza, where the Walmart is located, to return belongings that included clothing and a cellphone. The ex-girlfriend was in Walker’s pickup truck when Pickford arrived. After the items were returned, witnesses reported that words were exchanged. Pickford then returned to a vehicle that belonged to his mother, which prosecutors said he had taken without permission.
Witnesses said Pickford took a gun from inside the vehicle, held it out of a window and fired several times as he began to drive away. A shot hit Walker in the lower abdomen. Investigators later said the weapon was a 9 mm pistol that belonged to Pickford’s mother and had been stored in a safe. Prosecutors said Pickford admitted firing the gun but claimed he did not intend to strike anyone. Those facts formed the basis for the reckless second-degree murder plea.
The final stage was the June 3 plea and sentencing hearing before Judge Anne M. Edwards. Pickford waived his right to a trial and entered the guilty plea. New Hampshire Attorney General John M. Formella, State Police Colonel Mark B. Hall and Keene Police Chief Steven M. Stewart announced the sentence after the hearing. The court ordered Pickford to serve 27 years to life in prison, with a chance to reduce the minimum term by up to four years through programming, education and behavioral benchmarks.
Walker’s family filled in the human record at the hearing. Ashley Walker, his mother, said her son had plans to attend Motorcycle Training Institute Inc. in Florida and start his own business. She said Christian “left people better than he found them.” His sister, Dakota Walker, told the court that her brother was not just part of a criminal file. Supporters wore shirts and carried signs with messages honoring him, while the judge asked about displayed photos and thanked the family for speaking.
Pickford also addressed the courtroom. He said he felt “absolutely terrible” for what he had done and told Walker’s family he deserved the sentence. Edwards said the act may not have begun with an intent to kill, but the choice to fire a gun in those circumstances took Walker’s life. For prosecutors, the plea secured a murder conviction without a trial. For Walker’s family, it confirmed criminal responsibility but left them facing milestones he would never reach, including his expected graduation from Franklin County Technical School.
The investigation and prosecution have ended, and Pickford’s sentence is the standing judgment in the June 25, 2025, killing of Christian Walker.
Author note: Last updated July 7, 2026.