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Wilson |
BY ELLEN BILTZ
Dawn Walsh is taking steps to get back to normal, or at least normal as she knows it.
The Fredericksburg mom's world was forever changed about a year and half ago when her daughter, Danielle Wilson, was shot and killed.
Last week, a Henrico County jury, found the man Wilson was dating at the time, Wyatt Ward Hollar, 28, guilty of second-degree murder.
Hollar was then sentenced to 15 years in prison.
"The death of Danielle isn't over," Walsh said. "But the trial is. Now it's just trying to accept the new life."
Wilson was killed Feb. 11, 2007, after a night of arguing with Hollar at a bar, in a taxi and then again back at Hollar's apartment, evidence in last week's trial showed.
The night of Wilson's death, Ward dialed 911 to tell police the 26-year-old woman had shot herself in the chest.
But Feb. 20, 2008, more than a year after the shooting, Henrico County authorities charged Hollar with Wilson's murder.
Walsh said that since the night of her daughter's death, she has never questioned the slaying.
"I was very positive since the beginning that she had not done it," she said.
Michael Feinmel, the Henrico prosecutor who handled Hollar's case, said yesterday that he was pleased with the trial's result.
"We set out to prove that Danielle Wilson didn't kill herself," he said. "And I'm proud we were able to achieve that."
Feinmel said he felt that the forensic and ballistic evidence shown to the jury was what convinced them there was no way Wilson could have shot herself in the heart.
"The distance would not have been right," he said of the space between the gun and Wilson's chest at the time she was shot.
Walsh said while she's very grateful of the prosecution, she doesn't feel as much closure as she'd hoped for.
"This doesn't make me feel better. My baby's still gone," she said.
Walsh said she's just thankful for the support she and her family have seen for Wilson, who grew up in Fredericksburg and graduated from James Monroe High School before going to James Madison University. She graduated from JMU in 2004.
Family and friends filled the courtroom last week for the four-day trial, and Walsh said she knows it's still going to be a hard road for a lot of people, including herself.
"It's exhausting and emotional," she said. "I'm still going to take it day by day."
Ellen Biltz: 540/374-5424
Email: ebiltz@freelancestar.com
