Friends of Emma Walker say a strange series of events occurred in the days leading up to the 16-year-old Central High School student’s death in November 2016.
Five of Walker’s friends testified Wednesday during the murder trial of her ex-boyfriend, William Riley Gaul. He is charged with aggravated stalking and first-degree murder in Walker’s death.
All five of the friends were with Walker on Friday, November 18, 2016, two days before she was fatally shot while she slept in her bedroom.
TRIAL DAY 1: Jury seated for Riley Gaul murder trial
The five teens, three of whom are minors, said Walker started receiving text messages from an anonymous phone number while they were at a friend's house that night.
“The person was saying they were kidnapped," said Walker's friend Zach Green. "Come outside alone if you don't want to see one of your loved ones get hurt."
Witnesses told the jury Walker and her friends walked out to find Gaul outside her friend’s house that night, telling people he’d been kidnapped.
The friends testified they didn’t believe Gaul, but said Walker was shaken up about the incident.
"He said I don't know where I am and my head hurts," Walker's friend Max Bacon said.
The next morning, November 19, 2016, Walker’s friends said she texted them that a man dressed in black had tried to break into her house. In the text, Walker said she was scared, and thought she was going to die.
One friend said on the stand that she saw Gaul walking in their neighborhood that day, dressed in black.
She said she confronted Gaul over text message, asking why he was in their neighborhood, and he denied he was.
The two other witnesses to take the stand Wednesday were Gaul’s stepfather and grandfather.
James Walker, Gaul’s grandfather and no relation to Emma Walker’s family, testified about the gun he owns, that Gaul allegedly used in Walker's murder.
He was asked if he purchased a gun in 2003, and he said yes, it was a 9mm glock.
Prosecutors will continue calling witnesses on Thursday.