In connection with the killing of a former police oversight commissioner, whose body was discovered in her house by officers performing a welfare check, a 54-year-old male from Ann Arbor, Michigan, was detained.
According police spokesman Chris Page on Saturday, the individual will be charged with open murder, first-degree home invasion, and criminal sexual contact in connection with Jude Walton’s passing.
Officials withheld other information, including the name of the suspect.
Walton’s employer reported that she had not arrived for work on Thursday at 1:30 p.m., so police were summoned to her residence on Chapin Street. According to Page, she was last seen by a neighbor on Wednesday at around 8 p.m.
According to a police news release, “when officers arrived and entered the home, they found the death of a 51-year-old Ann Arbor lady.”
Page claimed on Thursday that there were “clear marks of trauma on her body” and proof of forced entry through the home’s back door.
The cause of death will be determined by an autopsy.
According to the news release, Walton was a former Independent Community Police Oversight Commission commissioner. According to the Ann Arbor Police Department’s website, the Commission was established to provide “smart, egalitarian, community-oriented policing that the Ann Arbor Police Department aims for and that our community deserves.”
Walton served as a commissioner for the organization from its creation until last year. It was established by ordinance in 2018 and started operating in 2019, according to chair Stefani A. Carter.
In a statement, Carter said, “We are deeply grieved to hear of her passing and we hold her family and friends up in prayer at this dreadful time.
She also held the position of Director of Employee Experience at Avalon Housing, a company that offers housing options to those who are homeless. She has spent 14 years working for the company.
“Jude was very considerate, kind, humorous, brilliant, intelligent, humble, and insightful. She was the one we all turned to at the worst times at work “The group released a message on Facebook. “Without her, it’s difficult to envision Avalon. We are lamenting this fictitious loss.”