WARSAW, Va. (AP) — A Richmond man convicted of fatally shooting a Virginia State Police special agent has been accused of shanking another inmate while in custody.
Travis Aaron Ball, 30, is accused of using a shank to stab another inmate, Ted Hull, superintendent of the Northern Neck Regional Jail, told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Hull said the altercation Dec. 18 apparently stemmed from what the men were watching on television in a day room. It left the victim with puncture wounds to the hand, scalp and neck, Hull said. He was hospitalized for several days and then returned to the jail.
“It was strictly situational,” Hull said. “It wasn’t part of any premeditation. During the course of incarceration, oftentimes you get two people who have dominant personalities and sometimes conflict arises.”
Hull said Richmond County Commonwealth’s Attorney Elizabeth Trible will make a determination on new charges.
Ball already faces institutional charges from the jail of assault and hindering and employee, Hull said. If found guilty of those charges, Ball could be placed in segregation for up to 15 days.
Ball was sentenced in 2018 to 36 years in prison for the fatal shooting of special agent Michael Walter, who had been patrolling a public housing complex in Richmond.
The following details honoring Walter were chronicled by the Officer Down Memorial Page:
Special Agent Michael Walter was shot and killed in the 1900 block of Redd Street in Richmond, Virginia while investigating a suspicious vehicle at approximately 7:30 pm.
He and several Richmond Police Department officers were conducting high visibility patrols in the Mosby Court public housing complex due to a recent trend of shootings and other crime. The officers were approaching a vehicle parked facing the wrong direction on Redd Street. As they spoke to the two occupants of the vehicle the passenger opened fire on them, striking Special Agent Walter.
Special Agent Walter was transported to VCU Medical Center where he succumbed to his wounds early the following morning.
The subject who shot him fled the scene but was arrested in Northumberland County, Virginia, several hours later. On September 27th, 2018, the subject plead no contest to capital murder. On October 11th, 2018, he was sentenced to life in prison but the judge suspended all but 36 years of the sentence against the advice of the prosecutor.
Special Agent Walter was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran. He had served with the Virginia State Police for 18 years and was assigned to the Bureau of Criminal Investigations’ Drug Enforcement Section. He is survived by his wife, daughter, and two sons.