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The Virginia State Police have been asked to assist in the investigation of the fatal shooting of a teenager in Amherst County.
Sgt. David Cooper, of the Virginia State Police, confirmed Tuesday that Amherst Sheriff Jimmy Ayers has requested help from the state police’s bureau of criminal investigations to look into the murder of Justin Baumgardner, 19, of Naola.
Baumgardner was found shot to death May 4 in his pickup truck in a driveway off Virginia 130. Cartridge casings were found along the road and a black cap was found near the casings. Deputies have charged Timothy Wayne Wright Jr., 21, of Amherst, with murder.
Capt. Duval Doss, of the Amherst County Sheriff’s office, said investigators are meeting with the state police today. He did not comment on why their assistance was requested.
Search warrants filed in the case revealed that a son of an Amherst County sheriff’s deputy was an eyewitness linking Wright to the fatal shooting.
Justin Davis was with Wright when Baumgardner was shot and told police what he saw, the warrants state. The handgun used was stolen from him, Davis told authorities. Wright is also charged with abducting Davis.
Baumgardner was shot several times. He had no connection to the residence at the driveway where his body was found, authorities said.
Wright was arrested last week and charged with murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, shooting into an occupied vehicle, shooting from a vehicle, and grand larceny. Wright is being held at the Amherst County Jail.
Warrants are for Wright’s home and Ford pickup truck to search for a Cobra .380 semiautomatic handgun. Investigators are looking to DNA evidence to further link Wright to the crime.
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Truthseeker, not trying to incite anything - the *gasp* was there because up until this point, my posts seemed to be of a differing opinion from yours. 
I actually DO agree with you that there needs to be a housecleaning in the sherriff’s department. I am also surprised that one (or more) of the major investigative news networks have not been contacted (or perhaps they have?) to investigate the seemingly questionable practices of the sherriff’s department. I do still want to acknowledge, however, that there are some deputies who demonstrate a sincere dedication to doing the right thing.
I am trying this post again since whoever moderates these posts must have felt my last one was not appropriate, although there was nothing in there that was unprofessional or inflammatory….
First of all Cop Mom, let me express my sincere condolences to both you and to Justin’s parents. I cannot imagine what it must be like to lose a child, and I know that this is an extremely difficult time for Justin’s family, especially since there was no good reason for his death.
Secondly, hogtown gal, I would like to state for the record that NOT ONE TIME have I ever referred to the girl as a victim. I am NOT her mother, as you and truthseeker seem to want to believe - I am just someone who has known her for a long time and felt it necessary to address the slanderous, gossipy remarks made on here about her character. Yes, she made some bad choices; yes, she probably should have handled the situation differently (again I ask: how many teenage girls break up with a boy for another, expecting the first boy to do what Tim Wright did?); yes, she is devastated by what happened, and will have to live with this for the rest of her life. I just find it sad that adults (I am assuming that you are adults) would listen to slanderous gossip and post comments like “she’s probably walking around the school thinking she’s a sex queen” without knowing the facts.
I am also going to go on the record stating that I do agree with hogtown gal and truthseeker (gasp!) that the Amherst Sherriff’s office does need some cleaning up. They will have to answer for their actions in both this case and in the case that has resulted in a lawsuit, along with other actions that may appear to be questionable. I will also say that I have dealt with some deputies in the Sherriff’s office who are committed to doing the right thing, as was evidenced in a situation that occurred with a boy bullying my son earlier this year.
I am glad that the state police have taken over this investigation, and it appears that it is heading in the right direction - something that didn’t appear to be happening early on.
Again, my thoughts and prayers are with the Baumgardner family during this difficult time.
hogtown gal, don’t put words in my mouth. NOT ONE TIME have I ever said the girl was a *victim*. I am NOT her mom, despite what you or truthseeker seem to believe…I am just someone who has known her for a long time. Yes, she made some bad choices; yes, she probably should have handled things differently (but again I ask - how many girls break up with one boy for another, and expect the first to go out and do what Tim Wright did?); yes, she is distraught over this situation, and will have to live with this for the rest of her life. I was just speaking to the disparaging posts that were posted on this board about her character. You don’t know her, you don’t know what happened, and to rip her to shreds is uncalled for. Making a post that says “She probably thinks she is a sex queen” shows me that you listen to gossip and rush to judgement of someone before you know all of the facts. Shame on you.
The sherriff’s department will have to answer for their actions, both in this case and in the case that resulted in a lawsuit. I have never once stated that I think the sherriff’s office could not use some “housekeeping” - there’s a lot lacking in that department IMO. I feel that Justin Davis should have been arrested immediately - come on, Tim Wright abducted him at gunpoint, forced him to drive the vehicle, then got out and said, “See you tomorrow buddy.“?!? Not hardly.
What is most important at this time is the pain that the Baumgardner family is going through. I cannot begin to imagine how difficult it must be for them - I do not want to think of what it would be like to lose one of my children. This is a very difficult situation, made even more difficult by the fact that Justin was such a fine young man. My thoughts and prayers are with the Baumgardners and with you, Cop Mom.
Thank you. I and my family deeply appreciate the support we’ve received from the wonderful community of Amherst County, and the surrounding areas. It truly means a great deal to us during such a difficult time. Justin was a wonderful young man, and the loss of him will be felt in our hearts for many years to come.
Please understand that my comments are made with a mix of anger, pain, and frustration. At this time, they are more based in emotion rather than cold, hard facts. Once all is revealed, we may well feel differently about certain aspects of the case. We are assured that a lot of good work went into the investigation conducted by the Sheriff’s Office, and it’s continuing to go into the investigation being done by the State Police. If mistakes were made, they will show up in time. If not, that will also come to light. It’s difficult, but we all have to be patient, and trust the judicial system to bring Justin’s killers to justice. We have confidence in the investigators who are handling his case, and they are confident the case is a good one. So for now, we’ll let them do the work they need to do, and we’ll support each other in honoring Justin’s memory. I believe right will win out. Justin was a model young man, and there’s no reason to believe otherwise. Again, thank you so much. We’re all family now, brought together by him.
Cop Mom, I extend my deepest sympathies to you and Justin’s parents. It is so refreshing to have someone with “cop experience” from another place besides Amherst County express their views on the Amherst Sheriff’s Dept. A lot goes on behind the scenes that we don’t know about. And what we do know about, we can’t say much about. I think the girl should also feel bad about what happened and learn a lesson from this. She was not a victim as her Mom or Amherst Mom seem to want everyone to believe.
As I recall when Sheriff Ayers ran for office, he was “going to clean up the county”. Mike Cox, the previous Sheriff, did a great job for a number of years and I did not see much that needed cleaning up. Our Sheriff needs to supervise his deputies more and not leave them free to make so many bad decisions on their own.
Justin Baumgardner was my nephew, his mother being my baby sister. I have 27 years of law enforcement experience in a very large (1700 employees) central Florida Sheriff’s Office, of which 11 of those years was spent in Major Crimes investigations (5 as a Homicide investigator). I will not go into the details of Justin’s case, but I will say the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office has a LONG way to go to reach our standard of professional conduct. If their handling of Justin’s murder is any indication of the kind of work they produce, you as tax payers are not getting your money’s worth. The citizen’s of Amherst County deserve far better than the services I saw while there after my nephew’s murder.
My family is extremely grateful that the Commonwealth Attorney and The State Police took the case away from the Sheriff’s Office. Oh, I know Sheriff Ayers claims the decision was his, but we all know that is not the truth. He was pressured to do so. His investigators made shockingly poor decisions in the case, because one of the suspect’s happened to be the son of one of their own. It was not just incompetence. It was blatant malfeasance, and I only hope they are held accountable. My nephew was an innocent kid. He walked away from a conflict. For that, he was run down, and murdered. This girl who is involved bares some responsibility for what happened to him, and she should feel badly about it…for years to come. With the loss of Justin Baumgardner, the world is a dimmer place. This isn’t just a “sad” situation. His mother and father will never be the same. We can only hope the State Police and the Special Prosecutor can give Justin the justice he deserves, the justice the Sheriff’s Office would have denied him.
Amherst Mom, yeah I was joking but now I am curious: which 2 of the 3 were involved with the girl? It is a sad situation and I am sure the girl is very upset. Nothing in this or some other cases in Amherst County surprise me about the way they were and are handled.
“And just maybe the undercover deputy gal posing as a high school senior is the unnamed gal involved in this killing?“
Oh come on…..surely you jest.
Dalma, no need to bash Truthseeker. He says what others out here think and we have not all been in jail, etc. Don’t you think this drug bust at the high school is timed to divert attention from this killing? And just maybe the undercover deputy gal posing as a high school senior is the unnamed gal involved in this killing?
truthseeker i can only imagine how many tickets or times you have been put behind bars by Amherst County Sheriff’s Office to have that attitude. You seem to know everything that happened tonight so you must have been there, that’s the only way you can know so much, so you should be arrested to. the newspaper should be more responsible in who they give the opportunity to post messages.
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