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Justin Baumgardner was found shot to death on Sunday in Amherst County.
AMHERST — Search warrants and affidavits filed this week in Amherst County Circuit Court reveal that an eyewitness linked Timothy Wayne Wright Jr., 21, to the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Justin Baumgardner.
Baumgardner, of Naola, 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.
Police had enough probable cause to charge Wright, who lives at 284 Lipscomb Hollow Road in Amherst, with Baumgardner’s murder, according to an affidavit.
A search warrant states Justin Davis was with Wright when Baumgardner was shot and told police what he saw. He said the handgun that killed Baumgardner was stolen from him and that Wright was wearing a black cap and lost it during the incident.
Davis is the son of an Amherst sheriff’s deputy. Wright has been charged with abducting Davis, the sheriff’s office said Thursday.
Baumgardner was wounded multiple times, according to the Amherst County Sheriff’s Office. He had no connection to the residence at the driveway where his body was found, authorities said.
Wright was arrested Tuesday on charges of murder, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, shooting into an occupied vehicle, shooting from a vehicle, and grand larceny. He is being held at the Amherst County Jail.
Police have warrants for his home and Ford pickup truck for a Cobra .380 semiautomatic handgun. Investigators aim to further link Wright to the crime scene through DNA evidence from the cap and fingerprints on the shell casings.
Baumgardner graduated from Amherst County High School and Principal Ernie Guill described him as “a nice kid, just kind of blended in with everybody else.” He was employed at Quality Archery Design in Madison Heights as assistant supervisor for assembly.
Wright has no connection to the school that Guill knew of and his truck has a California license plate, according to a warrant.
Funeral arrangements for Baumgardner have been made. Public visitation will be from 2 p.m. to 6 on Saturday at Whitten Funeral Home in Madison Heights and a memorial service is scheduled for Monday at 10 a.m.
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Reader Reactions
Cutnstyle, You said what everybody has been thinking. Yes it does look like this case has been closed once the reporter found out from public records about the witness and his connection to the Amherst Sheriff’s Dept. I am sure the Sheriff’s Dept wishes this case would go away and we would all forget about it.
Cosmo, You are so right about the black man the Amherst Deputy killed. His Mother has an excellent lawyer and she has appealed it to a higher court. A lot of things go on in Amherst County since Sheriff Ayers took over and said he was going to clean up this county. It depends on who you are and who you know as to who pays and who doesn’t. That black man was only tryng ti find someone at a place of business to make a phone call as his car was broken down. He dies. What else can we expect from a county who has many legal ‘shooting zones”? Doesn’t this tell you something about the county?
Truthseeker, I agree with you about the “willing participant”. I was just curious is why I asked about the driver of the truck. I too heard about the girl involved and the root of the whole incident.
Is it just me or has everything just shut down about this cold blooded homicide once it was found out that an Amherst County Deputy’s son was involved? Yes…I said involved. They say that they have filed additional charges against Timothy Wright for taking Justin Davis against his will. My first question is, WHY WAS JUSTIN DAVIS RIDING AROUND WITH A LOADED HANDGUN IN THE FIRST PLACE???? Second, if he was REALLY taken against his will why did that not come out sooner and why did it take the police until Tuesday to arrest Timothy Wright ... looks like Justin Davis would have gone straight home and told his father what had happened and maybe they could have gotten to Justin Baumgardner on Sat. night and possibly saved his life instead of strangers having to find him in their driveway dead the next day.It also seems a little funny that Justin Davis was the one with the loaded handgun, yet an unarmed individual took him against his will??? Also it was all over the news and the newspapers when it first happened. No one seemed to have a problem trying and convicting Timothy Wright before any details ever came out, yet as soon as it was found out that an Amherst Deputys son was the ONLY witness everything shut up REAL FAST. Something just doesn’t smell right !! What’s going on here Jimmy Ayers…we want ALL the details. Tell us why your deputys son was riding around with a loaded handgun in the first place and then explain to us why he didn’t let someone know immediatly so that maybe a young mans life could have possibly been saved. What are you hiding, tell us Jimmy what’s going on ?? We all want to know !!!!
Why was a deputys son riding around with a loaded handgun in the first place? How was he abducted against his will…when he was the one WITH THE LOADED HANDGUN ? Why, if he was taken against his will did he not immediatly contact the authorities to maybe try to save Justin Baumgardners life? Why did they still have “No suspects in Amherst County Killing” (NewsAdvance) on May 5th two full days after Justin Baumgardner was killed.I mean come on…if any one of us was taken against our will, and especially if our father was a cop, wouldn’t we all go straight to him to let him know what had happened? Wouldn’t that be the first place to go especially if another person had been shot and you witnessed it, wouldn’t you immediatly want someone of authority to know so that you wouldn’t be considered at the least an “accesory to murder”? And WHY did all of the media attention that this had been given, suddenly stop as soon as it was found out that an Amherst Deputys son was the only witness, and that it was his gun that was used in the killing?? Why, Why Why ???? Jimmy…tell us all why !!! What are you and your “boys” hiding? Come on now, something just doesn’t smell right
If this witness were not the son of an Amherst Deputy, would he not be charged with a crime?
Truthseeker, do you know for sure that Justin Davis was the driver of the truck? Also does anyone know if the Amherst Deputy is male of female? I agree with all of you posters about the coverup and with Parot about the conflict of interest. BTW I keep getting em about the posts redirecting me to the Berg site but I can’t find anything about this topic there - help!
Cosmo, I agree with you 100%. I had not thought of who the gun really belonged to but think you may be right. Makes sense and now it all adds up. I hope Wright has a good lawyer and that this case is tried out of Amherst County.
Sad story…And who knows what the truth is about what happen, but my question is why is the Amherst County Sheriff’s Department investigating this case…Shouldn’t Mr. Ayers relinquish the case to another jurisdiction or perhaps the Virginia State Police? Seems to be a “conflict of interest” for the Sheriff’s Department to be overseeing the investigation when a deputy’s son is involved in the case…Who am I just an idiot?
To the average reader this story is indeed FISHY. A young man (a sheriff’s deputy’s son, no less) is abducted, witnesses a horrible murder, is then released unharmed but doesn’t speak up once released? And why would someone kidnap a person, abduct him, force him to watch a murder, and then let him go unharmed just like that? Sounds like a cover-up to me. There must be more to it.
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