An 18-year-old man has been sentenced to 27 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to the 2025 shooting death of a teenager at a Walmart in Keene, New Hampshire.
Thomas Pickford pleaded guilty on Wednesday to reckless second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Christian Walker. He received a sentence of 27 years to life, with the possibility of reducing the minimum term by up to four years through programming and behavioral benchmarks. The shooting occurred in the early morning hours of June 25, 2025, at the Walmart on Winchester Street. Pickford had gone there to return items to his ex-girlfriend when he saw her with Walker in a truck. He fired a 9 mm pistol from his car window, striking Walker in the abdomen. Walker was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death a single gunshot wound to the abdomen and the manner homicide. Pickford was arrested hours later at his home a few miles away after investigators matched the weapon to one kept by his mother. Pickford admitted firing the gun but said he did not intend to hit anyone. Walker had just finished 11th grade and was remembered in his obituary as a strong-willed and wholehearted person.