The mom of an up-and-coming nation star was stabbed to dying after a stranger broke into her Virginia residence and attacked her and her husband, in accordance with authorities.
Holly Hatcher, 62, whose son is music artist Spencer Hatcher, was murdered in her residence north of Harrisonburg final Sunday by 41-year-old Kevin Moses Walker, WTVR reported.
Her husband, Michael Hatcher, 65, was additionally wounded within the terrifying assault simply earlier than midnight on Aug. 3, however managed to shoot Walker lifeless after retrieving a handgun from his automobile.
“This can be a extremely uncommon, apparently utterly random [attack] with a person with no recognized historical past of violent habits of any form, and even legal habits of any form,” Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson instructed a press convention.
Two days earlier than the killings, Walker, of Pikesville, Maryland, rented a campsite at Countless Caverns in New Market, VA, and purchased a big knife at a close-by Walmart, in accordance with investigators.
The day earlier than the killing, Walker’s deserted automobile was found close to Countless Caverns by Virginia State Police after cops say he rammed into the shop there, however didn’t steal something.
Patrol automobiles and a drone had been deployed, however there was no signal of him, and police had no concept of the horror that was about to unfold.
“There was no indication of any violence or potential for any violence from the offender that the Virginia State Police grew to become conscious of all through that investigation,” Hutcheson stated on the press convention.
First responders discovered Michael Hatcher exterior his residence with seen accidents, whereas Walker was mendacity deceased within the driveway.
Holly Hatcher was found inside the home with deadly stab wounds.
“There’s going to be questions that can by no means be answered, however all I can let you know is we’ve cried, we’ve harm, and we’ve hugged, and we’ve got discovered extra love than we’ve got ever recognized has existed between us, and between you,” Michael Hatcher instructed the press convention in an emotional assertion.
Spencer Hatcher, who additionally appeared on the press convention beside his father, introduced on social media he was canceling a number of upcoming exhibits.
“It’s with a heavy coronary heart and overwhelming unhappiness that – attributable to a monumental loss in our household — I need to cancel my upcoming exhibits at VOA Nation Music Fest in Butler County, OH (8/8) and at Rockingham County Truthful in Harrisonburg, VA (8/11 &8/12),” he stated within the Instagram put up.
Authorities are nonetheless investigating a motive for the slaying, Sheriff Hutcheson stated.
Holly Hatcher has been remembered as a beloved instructor within the rural Virginia neighborhood the place she labored for the previous 19 years.
“She poured her coronary heart into her work, positively impacting numerous college students and colleagues. Her loss is deeply felt by your complete Rockingham County Public Colleges (RCPS) household,” a tribute on Fb learn.
