In the late summer of 2022, the life of 15-year-old Haley Reedy, a White female student at Millington Central Middle High School, was tragically cut short. On September 11, 2022, Haley was at a residence on Clear Creek Drive in Millington, Tennessee, with 18-year-old Seth Walls and another teenage girl. What began as a social visit ended in a fatal shooting that would leave a family shattered and a community seeking answers.
According to initial reports, Walls claimed that he, Reedy, and
the other teen were playing with his gun when he walked away, only to hear a gunshot and return to find Haley shot. However, the evidence uncovered during the investigation told a different story. An autopsy revealed that Haley had been shot in the back of the head from an elevated angle, a finding that contradicted Walls' account and led investigators to believe he was the one who pulled the trigger. The Shelby County Medical Examiner ruled her death a homicide, stating that the wound could not have been self-inflicted. The bullet's trajectory also indicated that the other young woman present was in danger of being struck.
Seth Walls was subsequently arrested and charged with reckless homicide and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. This was not his first encounter with law enforcement, as he was already facing charges for allegedly assaulting another teenage girl just weeks prior to Haley's death and was out on bond at the time of the shooting. Despite the serious nature of the new charges, Walls was able to post a $10,000 bond and was released from the Shelby County Jail in less than 24 hours. This decision sparked outrage from Haley Reedy's family, who feared for the safety of other young women in the community.
In the months that followed, Haley's parents became vocal advocates for justice for their daughter, expressing their profound grief and determination to see Walls held accountable. Their fears that he posed a continued threat were seemingly realized when he was indicted in May of the following year on aggravated assault charges related to the abuse of another young woman. A Shelby County grand jury also upgraded the charges in Haley's case to second-degree murder and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. However, when it came time for his bond arraignment on the aggravated assault charges in June, Seth Walls failed to appear, and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He has been a fugitive from justice ever since, with law enforcement agencies, including the US Marshals Office, actively searching for him.
