The mom of an up-and-coming nation star was stabbed to loss of life after a stranger broke into her Virginia house and attacked her and her husband, based on authorities.
Holly Hatcher, 62, whose son is music artist Spencer Hatcher, was murdered in her house north of Harrisonburg final Sunday by 41-year-old Kevin Moses Walker, WTVR reported.
Her husband, Michael Hatcher, 65, was additionally wounded within the terrifying assault simply earlier than midnight Aug. 3, however managed to shoot Walker lifeless after retrieving a handgun from his car.
“It is a extremely uncommon, apparently utterly random [attack] with a person with no identified historical past of violent habits of any form, and even felony habits of any form,” Rockingham County Sheriff Bryan Hutcheson informed a press convention.
Two days earlier than the killings, Walker, of Pikesville, Maryland, rented a campsite at Countless Caverns in New Market, Va., and acquired a big knife at a close-by Walmart, based on investigators.
The day earlier than the killing, Walker’s deserted car was found close to Countless Caverns by Virginia State Police after cops say he rammed into the shop there, however didn’t steal something.
Patrol autos and a drone had been deployed, however there was no signal of him, and police had no thought of the horror that was about to unfold.
“There was no indication of any violence or potential for any violence from the offender that the Virginia State Police turned conscious of all through that investigation,” Hutcheson mentioned on the press convention.
First responders discovered Michael Hatcher exterior his house with seen accidents, whereas Walker was mendacity deceased within the driveway.
Holly Hatcher was found inside the home with deadly stab wounds.
“There’s going to be questions that may by no means be answered, however all I can let you know is we’ve cried, we’ve harm, and we’ve hugged, and we have now discovered extra love than we have now ever identified has existed between us, and between you,” Michael Hatcher informed the press convention in an emotional assertion.
Spencer Hatcher, who additionally appeared on the press convention beside his father, introduced on social media he was canceling a number of upcoming reveals.
“It’s with a heavy coronary heart and overwhelming unhappiness that — because of a monumental loss in our household — I need to cancel my upcoming reveals at VOA Nation Music Fest in Butler County, OH (8/8) and at Rockingham County Honest in Harrisonburg, VA (8/11 & 8/12),” he mentioned within the Instagram put up.
Authorities are nonetheless investigating a motive for the slaying, Hutcheson mentioned.
Holly Hatcher has been remembered as a beloved instructor within the rural Virginia neighborhood the place she labored for the previous 19 years.
“She poured her coronary heart into her work, positively impacting numerous college students and colleagues. Her loss is deeply felt by the complete Rockingham County Public Faculties (RCPS) household,” a tribute on Fb learn.
