On a late Thursday morning in June 2016, the life of 35-year-old Jenna Ellen Charlton Wall was tragically cut short in her Powder Springs, Georgia, home. A beloved kindergarten teacher at Kemp Elementary School, Jenna was a lifelong resident of Cobb County, having graduated with honors from both Harrison High School and the University of Georgia. She was in the midst of a difficult divorce from her estranged husband, Jerrod Wall, and had moved back into her childhood home with her two young
sons. It was in this familiar and once-safe environment that the unthinkable happened.
The suspect in Jenna's shooting death was a person intimately connected to her family: her 63-year-old former mother-in-law, Elizabeth 'Betsy' Wall. On that fateful day, Elizabeth Wall was at Jenna's home, ostensibly to care for her two grandsons, who were 6 and 8 years old at the time. The boys were reportedly playing upstairs when their grandmother led them out to her pick-up truck and told them to wait. Shortly after, they heard the gunshots that ended their mother's life. Authorities later revealed that Elizabeth Wall had researched shootings and purchased a gun months prior to the incident. After the shooting, she reportedly called her son, Jenna's estranged husband, and told him to come to the house.
Cobb County police arrived to find Jenna Wall deceased from multiple gunshot wounds. Her two sons were physically unharmed. Elizabeth Wall was taken into custody at the scene without incident. The community was left in shock and mourning for the dedicated teacher and devoted mother. Neighbors remembered her as a joyful and involved parent, often seen playing outside with her children.
In the aftermath, Elizabeth Wall was charged with a litany of offenses, including felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault, possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony, and cruelty to children. A Cobb County grand jury later indicted her on these charges. In March 2018, Elizabeth Wall pleaded guilty but mentally ill to the murder of her former daughter-in-law. Her defense attorney stated that she had been dealing with mental health issues for decades and had been hearing voices. During the court proceedings, it was revealed that she had anticipated taking her own life after the shooting but did not go through with it. The judge sentenced Elizabeth Wall to life in prison for the murder of Jenna Wall, a sentence that brought a legal conclusion to a deeply personal and tragic chapter for a grieving family and community.
