RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – A Richmond man is set to serve 36 years in prison for the capital murder of a Virginia State Police special agent. News outlets report that 28-year-old Travis Ball was sentenced Thursday in the fatal shooting of Trooper Michael Walter. The judge gave him a life sentence, suspended after 36 years. Walter was shot in May 2017 when he and a Richmond police officer approached a car while on patrol. Police said Ball was a passenger in the car, fired a shot and ran. He was arrested shortly after Walter died. Walter last month entered an Alford plea to one count of capital murder. Prosecutors said then that he would no longer face the death penalty. An Alford plea acknowledges prosecutors have enough evidence to convict without admitting guilt.
