Background: The Walmart located on Winchester Street in Keene, New Hampshire (Google Maps). Inset top: Thomas Pickford appears in court (WMUR/YouTube). Inset bottom: Christian Walker (Witty's Funeral Home).
A man will spend the coming decades behind bars after he showed up at a New Hampshire Walmart to return items to his ex-girlfriend, and upon seeing her with another guy, fatally shot him.
Thomas Pickford, 18, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to reckless second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Christian Walker, the New Hampshire Department of Justice announced. He was subsequently sentenced to 27 years to life in prison "with an opportunity to reduce the minimum term of this sentence by up to four years for completion of programming, educational, and behavioral benchmarks while incarcerated."
It was the early morning hours of June 25, 2025, and Pickford was headed to the Walmart on Winchester Street in Keene, New Hampshire. The midsize city sits in the southern part of the state.
He planned to return items to his ex-girlfriend, The Keene Sentinel reported, citing prosecutors. However, when Pickford rolled into the parking lot, he saw her in a truck with another man — Walker.
Pickford apparently dropped off the items and began to drive away, but as he did, he raised a gun out of his car window and fired. Walker was hit in the abdomen with one of the shots.
Someone called 911, and law enforcement officers responded to the scene to find Walker suffering from a gunshot wound. He was brought to an area hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on Walker's body "concluded that the cause of his death was a single gunshot wound to the abdomen, and the manner of death was homicide," authorities said. Officers with the New Hampshire State Police and Keene Police Department continued investigating.
Within hours of the shooting, investigators identified Pickford as their suspect and arrested him at his home a few miles away. They reportedly learned that a 9 mm pistol kept by his mother in a safe matched the one used to kill Walker.
Prosecutors said Pickford admitted to firing the gun but claimed he did not mean to hit anyone.
Walker "died unexpectedly" after he had just finished 11th grade, his obituary states. He was "a one of a kind person, he was strong willed, fearless and whole hearted," the tribute says, and he "will forever be remembered as the phenomenal son, brother and grandson he was, but more importantly the type of friend he was."
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