Thomas Pickford pleaded guilty to reckless second-degree murder in the death of 17-year-old Christian Walker.

KEENE, N.H. — An 18-year-old New Hampshire man was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison after admitting he fatally shot a Massachusetts teenager during a late-night meeting outside a Walmart last year.

Thomas Pickford, of Swanzey, pleaded guilty June 3 in Cheshire County Superior Court to reckless second-degree murder in the death of Christian G. Walker, 17, of Orange, Massachusetts. The sentence ended a case that began in the early hours of June 25, 2025, when police and emergency workers were called to a parking lot off Winchester Street and found Walker with a gunshot wound.

The shooting grew out of a planned exchange of belongings, prosecutors said in court. Pickford had arranged to meet an ex-girlfriend at Riverside Plaza, where the Walmart is located, to return items that included clothing and a cellphone. Walker was in a pickup truck with the young woman when Pickford arrived. After the items were handed over, witnesses said sharp words were exchanged. Pickford returned to a vehicle he had taken from his mother without permission, then fired several shots from the window as he began to leave the parking lot.

One bullet struck Walker in the lower abdomen. People at the scene called 911, and first responders took Walker to Cheshire Medical Center in Keene. He was pronounced dead at 1:49 a.m. An autopsy performed later that day by Associate Medical Examiner Dr. Abigail Alexander found that Walker died from a single gunshot wound to the abdomen and that the manner of death was homicide. State and local officials said all parties were identified early in the investigation and that there was no known threat to the public after the shooting.

Investigators focused on Pickford within hours. Police later arrested him at his home a few miles from the scene. Authorities said the gun used in the shooting was a 9 mm pistol that belonged to Pickford’s mother and had been kept in a safe. Prosecutors said Pickford admitted firing the weapon but claimed he did not mean to hit anyone. He was charged under juvenile laws soon after the shooting because he was 17 at the time. By the time of sentencing, he was 18 and stood before Judge Anne M. Edwards as the case moved from accusation to conviction.

The guilty plea spared Walker’s family a trial but did not soften the grief described in court. Four family members and one close friend spoke during the sentencing hearing. Ashley Walker, Christian’s mother, said her son was a dedicated young man who had plans beyond high school. He wanted to attend Motorcycle Training Institute Inc. in Florida and eventually start his own business, she said. “My son didn’t just live,” Ashley Walker said. “He left people better than he found them.”

Walker had just finished 11th grade and would have graduated from Franklin County Technical School in Turners Falls, Massachusetts, the week before Pickford’s sentencing. His family described him as strong-willed, fearless and loyal. His sister, Dakota Walker, told the court that her brother was “more than a case number” and said he was someone the family looked forward to seeing on its hardest days. Supporters gathered at the courthouse with signs and shirts bearing messages in his memory.

Pickford also spoke before the sentence was imposed. He apologized to Walker’s family and told the court he accepted the punishment. “I feel absolutely terrible for what I have done,” Pickford said. “I deserve this.” The judge told Walker’s relatives she hoped they were getting help for their trauma. She also addressed Pickford, saying the evidence showed a reckless decision that ended a life and left a family with lasting loss, even if he did not set out that morning intending to kill.

The 27-years-to-life sentence allows Pickford to seek a reduction of up to four years from the minimum term if he completes programming, education and behavioral benchmarks while incarcerated. That means his earliest possible parole date could move closer if he meets those conditions, but the life portion of the sentence remains in place. The case is now closed in Cheshire County Superior Court, with Pickford transferred into the state prison system under the terms set by the judge.

For now, the conviction stands as the final court action in Walker’s death, nearly a year after the Winchester Street shooting and a little more than a month after Pickford’s plea and sentencing.

Author note: Last updated July 7, 2026.