‘Murderer’-in-law
Kids hear grandma kill their mom: cops
A Georgia woman blew away her soon-to-be former daughter-in-law just a short distance away from the victim’s elementary school-age children, police said Saturday.
Elizabeth Wall, 63, shot and killed Jenna Wall, 35, in the kitchen of the victim’s Powder Springs, Ga., home on Thursday in a crime that’s shocked the quiet Atlanta suburb.
Jenna Wall had been separated for a year from the suspect’s son, Jerrod Wall, an investigator for the Paulding County district attorney’s office said.
The estranged couple’s two sons, 7 and 8, were in a car just outside the house when their mom was killed.
Jerrod and Jenna Wall were wed on July 17, 2004 but were in the middle of a nasty divorce. Jerrod had accused Jenna, a kindergarten teacher at nearby Kemp Elementary School, of cheating on him, court records say.
After Elizabeth Wall shot her daughter-in-law, she called her son and asked him to come pick up his kids, police said.
“While en route, Jerrod Wall spoke with his older child on the phone who informed him that said ac- cused and Jenna Wall were in the house and he had heard gunshots,” according to an arrest warrant, cited by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
When Jerrod arrived at Jenna’s family home on Wyndham Woods Drive, he found his dead wife and his mom threatening to kill herself, police said.
“Jerrod Wall . . . found [his mother] seated in the living room, holding a black revolver to her head,” according to the warrant.
He called 911. Police arrived and talked Elizabeth Wall into surrendering.
“At the time, the suspect still had the weapon and we were very careful and methodical,” said Cobb County police Sgt. Dana Pierce. “But within minutes of police arriving, she put the gun down.”
The elder Wall was booked on suspicion for murder, aggravated assault, illegal possession of a firearm and cruelty to children — a common charge in Georgia for committing a violent crime in the presence of kids.
Jenna’s family and friends were stunned by the slaying.
“You were so kind, loving, fun, caring, uplifting, compassionate, encouraging, motherly, and an extraordinary teacher and person,” Robin Gantek, a parent of one of Wall’s former students, wrote on Facebook.
Elizabeth Wall remained in Cobb County Jail on Saturday after a judge denied her bail.