Elizabeth Wall

This case seems a bit puzzling to me. It is not confusing as to who committed the crime at hand because that is very apparent. It was obvious, and admitted, that Elizabeth Wall murdered her soon to be ex-daughter-in-law. We have seen cases like this before and like so many of the others that involve in-laws, there was a divorce and a custody case at hand. I feel as if the difference in this case is that while there was a custody case being fought, Elizabeth's son, Jerrod, may have had a better chance than some of the others that we hear about. It does not appear that the permanent custody issue would be settled any time soon, or even that there had been a complete hearing addressing issues either party had claimed to know for sure just who may or may not have had a leg up on the other. And yet, Elizabeth Wall decided that was not good enough.

On June 23, 2016 Elizabeth Wall went to pick up her grandson's from their mother, thirty-five year old Jenna Wall. Jenna and Jerrod Wall had separated the previous fall. Jenna and her two boys were living with her parents in Power Springs Georgia, near Atlanta. When Elizabeth got to the home she placed the boys, who were seven and eight years old, in her car. Elizabeth then called Jerrod, who worked as an investigator for a neighboring district attorney's office, told him to come and get them and then abruptly ended the call. She then went into the home where she proceeded to shoot Jenna four times in the kitchen of her parents' home. For his part it was said that Jerrod repeatedly attempted to reach his mother again by phone but was not receiving an answer. But, it was said that he did reach his oldest son. There were questions as to if the eight year old had his own cell phone but that was not made clear and in fairness it could have been Elizabeth's phone that he answered. Regardless of that fact Jerrod's son told him that he had heard gunshots coming from the home and that his mother and grandmother were inside.

Some have questioned why Jerrod did not call 911 right then but, again to be fair, there was little information as to just how close he was to the home at the time and he stated he was concentrating on getting there. He arrived a few minutes later and entered the home. He would tell authorities that he found his estranged wife on the floor of the kitchen, obviously dead and he found his mother sitting on the couch in the front room holding a gun to her head. He convinced his mother to put the gun down and he then called 911.

Elizabeth was immediately arrested and charged with murder, aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, and third degree cruelty to children. As I stated before there was no question who had committed the crime. Elizabeth readily admitted that she had done it and even if she had not the oldest child knew who was in the home when he heard the gunshots.

One thing I found very interesting about this case was that I was able to see three documents in this case that are rarely seen. I was able to see the divorce filing that Jenna made on October 8, 2015, Jerrod find a response and answer on November 3rd and I was able to see the counter filing that Jerrod made on April 25, 2016. One article I read stated that Jenna had filed for divorce in October of 2015 but “they had been separated for several months” when this happened. However, in Jenna's filing she claimed they had separated on September 25^th, barely two weeks prior. She had basically filed for a no fault divorce saying that the marriage was “irretrievably broken.” She reported her income as a school teacher and Jerrod's income as the investigator with the district attorney's office. She asked for primary custody of the children, child support and attorney fees.

Jerrod's response to Jenna's divorce filing seemed very contentious to be fair. One thing I found interesting was that in Georgia even in a divorce the parties are referred to as the plaintiff and the defendant. I cannot say that I have seen a lot of divorce filings outside the state of Indiana but I guess I always assumed that everyone used the references of “petitioner and respondent” when it came to a divorce. At any rate in Jerrod's November 3^rd “answer” he stated that they had not separated on September 25^th as Jenna had stated in her filing but that it actually occurred on the day of her filing, October 8^th. He claimed that she had left the home with the children and sent him a text message that she had left. While in her filing she stated the children were in her care since the time of separation he pointed out again the circumstances in which the separation occurred implying they were with Jenna in essence because she had taken them. He also claimed that she was denying him access to the children. To add to this he claimed that the couple had been intimate between the dates of September 25^th and October 8^th. Obviously his response to her filing indicated that he had no idea that divorce was even on the table until she had left and he was later served. Jerrod went on to say that the income levels in which she had stated were in fact wrong, although in fairness I never saw any amounts in which he gave. He argued against her request for attorney fees since she was the person who initially filed and she was the one who obviously wanted the divorce.

In the November filing by Jerrod he did argue for custody of the children and had claimed Jenna had shown emotional and financial instability but stated that custody should be in the best interest of the children. He also stated that regardless of who retained primary custody of the children that both parties should be awarded “no less than joint legal and physical custody.”

In April of 2016 Jerrod filed a counter claim to her divorce filing, with some amended answers to the previous filings. At this point Jerrod was claiming this was no longer a no fault divorce. I did a quick search on how things work in the area of divorce in Georgia and while they do offer no fault claiming the marriage to be “irretrievably broken,” they also have several grounds in which is considered to be “fault” in which one party can claim that the actions of the other is what caused the marriage to fail. In counter filing of the divorce he claimed that he learned after she had filed for divorce, and apparently after his initial response, that Jenna had reconnected with an old high school boyfriend in 2013 and they began meeting in person the following year. He claimed (and his lawyer would claim that she admitted to this but I cannot confirm) that the two (Jenna and the boyfriend) had been intimate at least four months prior to her filing of divorce. He went on to continue his claims that Jenna was hindering contact between him and his children, now claiming that she was recording phone conversations between them. He was again asking for primary custody of the children. Now, since this was his filing he claimed that she made more income than he did and can easily afford her own attorney. Two months after this filing Jenna would be dead at the hands of Jerrod's mother.

To be fair I saw nothing more as far as a legal response from Jenna but as I state, his attorney claims she admitted to the affair. It was also alleged, although not in court documents, or any that I had seen, that Jerrod had “bad mouthed” her to their children. And yet despite all of this and it being obvious from the beginning who was responsible for her death I found it odd that Jerrod was still listed as surviving her as her husband in her obituary.

Prosecutors would discover that Elizabeth had researched on the Internet people who had killed their families and then themselves. It was also learned that on April 19^th, Jerrod had a deposition for the divorce and his mother went and bought the gun she would later use to murder Jenna. In March of 2018 Elizabeth pleaded guilty but mentally ill to felony murder. Regardless she was still given a life sentence. She will not be eligible for parole for thirty years when she will be ninety-four years old, if she is still living.