Jerry Wayne Walker Jr.’s ex-girlfriend testified in his trial yesterday in Marshall County. Walker faces charges stemming from the 1998 Murray State University Hester Hall dorm fire that killed student Michael Minger.
The Paducah Sun reports Jessica Eveland was Walker’s girlfriend at the time. She testified she doesn’t remember accompanying him to Mayfield the day after the fire to see his dying grandmother, as his attorney said during opening statements. The two dated on-and-off while in school, but she says the relationship ended permanently when she read a letter written by Walker implicating her current husband in the fatal fire. Walker is charged with first-degree arson, second-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault and 14 counts of wanton endangerment. His first trial on other charges associated with the incident ended in a hung jury in 2001. Prosecutors are to continue calling witnesses today.
