MEMPHIS TIE TO N.M. SHOOTING
Shot in hotel room of former CNN reporters
Alleged hotel room intruder killed by ex-CNN reporter was from Frayser.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The man fatally shot by a former CNN reporter at an Albuquerque motel has been identified as Memphian Tomorio Walton, who was wanted for violation of parole and had a long list of convictions, including aggravated robbery, theft and burglary.
Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Tanner Tixier said Friday that it wasn’t clear how long Walton, 27, had been in New Mexico.
Chuck de Caro and his wife, Lynne Russell, were in their room when Walton, 27, allegedly tried to rob them, authorities said.
Russell, a former CNN anchor, said the couple stopped at an Albuquerque Motel 6 on Tuesday night after a long day of traveling and they also had their dog. She said an armed man was at their door when she returned from getting something from their car.
“He pushed me into the room, and that’s when my husband came out of the shower and saw what was happening,” Russell told KOB-TV. “We tried to calm him, confuse him and do everything we could do to just come out of it in one piece.”
Walton allegedly took de Caro’s briefcase before shooting at him. Both Russell and de Caro have concealed carry weapons permits, and de Caro “fired back and it was a shootout,” Russell said.
Police said de Caro suffered three gunshot wounds and killed Walton when he returned fire. Russell was not injured.
Police spokesman Simon Drobik on Friday said it was unlikely de
Caro, who was recovering at a hospital, would face any charges in what appeared to be a case of self-defense.
De Caro was an investigative reporter for CNN and is a consultant for the Pentagon. Russell retired from CNN in 2005.
Walton has a Memphis address in Frayser listed on his arrest warrant. The arrest warrant was issued for violation parole on May 25, 2015.
Walton had several previous arrests for burglary, theft of property and aggravated robbery.
Court records show that Walton was indicted on the burglary charge in September 2013.
According to an arrest affidavit, Walton is alleged to have broken into the Pinnacle Apartments in the 300 block of Bellevue and he was accused of stealing a Weed Eater, a blower, a chain saw and stain remover. He was caught on the apartment’s surveillance camera and was charged with stealing the items valued at $500 and causing $500 damage to the frame of a door of the building where he allegedly stole the items.
In November 2013, Walton pleaded guilty to the burglary charge. He was sentenced to three months in the Shelby County Correctional Facility, according to court records.
In 2011, Walton was convicted of aggravated robbery after he robbed a woman in an apartment complex in Memphis in 2009. He was sentenced in 2013 and was released on parole.