Carl Lee Walton - Age 33

A Friend of the Family

The Killer - Carl Lee Walton

On Wednesday, December 21, 2005, Carl Lee Walton, 33, killed a Black woman, who he called "sister," and he also killed her White friend. It didn't take police long to figure out that Walton was the killer. On Thursday morning, they surrounded the house where he was staying with a SWAT team and Walton quickly surrendered. Walton is charged with two counts of murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The motive for the double killing was evidently a dispute over a $600 loan that Walton had made to Ronique Ewing. Tonya Smith, the White victim, was murdered, evidently, so as not to leave any witnesses.
 

Following is the story from the Virginian Pilot:

A 33-year-old felon was arrested Thursday and charged with killing two women in the Burton Station neighborhood, police said. The suspect, Carl Lee Walton, was taken into custody at 11:21 a.m. and charged with the murders of Tonya Dover Smith, 27, and Ronique Lavone Ewing, 28, both of Norfolk. Police said Smith and Ewing died from gunshot wounds.

Walton has a criminal history that includes a conviction for killing a man in the Northridge area of Virginia Beach in 1995. In that case, he was charged with murder but eventually pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter.


In the latest killing, the women’s bodies were found on a secluded stretch of Tim Road near Norfolk International Airport. Police had received a report at 11:20 a.m. Wednesday from someone who said they saw something suspicious . After a 24-hour investigation, members of the SWAT team and the Virginia Beach K-9 Corps went to a house in the 3700 block of Bancroft Drive, in the Pecan Gardens neighborhood, where Walton was believed to be staying with an acquaintance. “When he realized we were there, he surrendered with no problem,” police spokeswoman Margie Long said.

Walton is being held at the city jail pending a court appearance. Walton has had a criminal past since at least 1990. At age 18 in 1990, Walton and two other men were accused of being involved in a gunfight in Burton Station during which three men were shot. Two of the victims lived at Fort Story. One was shot at a Burger King restaurant on Northampton Boulevard and Burton Station Road. The other was found inside a bullet-riddled truck a few blocks away. Walton was charged with malicious mob assault, but computerized court records do not indicate how the case ended.

In 1995, Walton was accused of slaying a 41-year-old man near the intersection of Harrier Street and Richard Road in the Northridge section. At the time, authorities said the two men knew each other and the shooting was drug-related. Walton pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to seven years in prison. No record was available of his release.

The latest incident in Burton Station occurred just before noon Wednesday. When police arrived, they found one woman’s body in a maroon sport utility vehicle in a ditch in the 1100 block of Tim Road, near Burton Station Road. The other woman’s body was discovered in a nearby field. Both bodies were found a few blocks from Walton’s home in the 6000 block of Burton Station Road. The neighborhood is tucked between the airport and Northampton Boulevard. Police spokeswoman Margie Long did not disclose the motive of the double homicide.
 

Tonya Dover Smith - Age 27

Ronique Lavone Ewing - Age 28

Comment:

This is another story of a convicted felon, recently released from prison where he served seven years for voluntary manslaughter, who has again been arrested and charged with murder. Carl Lee Walton was only out or prison for one year before murdering again. This case is uncommon in that one of the victims was Black and the other was White. A case such as this, in which the killer was a friend of the family, demonstrates the necessity for the Black community to realize that we have a serious problem with aggressive Black males committing violent crimes. Carl Walton killed his friend, Ronique Ewing, and an innocent bystander, Tonya Smith, over a dispute about a $600 loan. He must have been completely lacking a sense of perspective.

Carl Lee Walton had come to the home of Ronique Ewing and talked to Ronique's mother about the $600 that Ronique owed him. Mrs. Ewing told police that Walton had told her that he was going to kill Ronique. But, did Mrs. Ewing call the police and tell them that Walton, a convicted felon, who was on probation after having served time for murder, had threatened his daughter's life? The answer to that question is apparently "no!" And, one has to ask, "Why not?" Would you, the reader, have just forgotten about such a threat from a person that you know served time for murder? I seriously doubt it. And this is part of the problem that the White community is facing: the Black community simply does not take crime and violence very seriously. The Black community is paying for this irresponsible attitude, but so is the White community. And this case is the perfect example of that. Had Mrs. Ewing alerted the police, they would have had cause to arrest Carl Walton, and they would have had cause to search his person and his vehicle and they probably would have found the gun that he used in this double murder; and Carl Walton would be facing many years in prison, because it is a felony for a convicted felon to be in possession of a firearm of any kind.

Had Mrs. Ewing acted responsibly, her daughter and Tonya Smith would still be alive today. And, Carl Walton would be headed for prison, which is evidently where he belongs. We would like to take this opportunity to urge the Black community to start taking crime and violence seriously. If the Black and White communities have two different concepts as to what a responsible approach to crime and violence is, then the Black-White relationship shall continue to be strained, and Black crime shall continue to plague, not just the Black and White communities, but all of the people living in America.

It is not only unacceptable that the Black community does not have a responsible attitude toward crime and violence, it is also legally untenable. By this, I mean that the deficient Black concept of responsibility toward crime and violence is not only divergent from the White concept, but that it is, moreover, not in keeping with the provisions of the civil and criminal laws of the United States of America. This means that the Black community is in ethical, moral, and legal violation of said laws, and, therefore, logically, it is to be held legally and financially accountable for all crimes committed by Blacks in the United States of America. One way that the Blacks can meet their financial obligation, is through a special tax, which I shall call "the Black crime tax," which would be levied against all Blacks, the revenues of which would go to compensate the victims and victims' families of crimes resulting in injury or murder committed by Blacks.

We, therefore, believe that the parents and family of the White murder-victim, Tonya Smith, have legal grounds to file a civil lawsuit against Mr. and Mrs. Ewing for complicity to commit homicide, whereby they would demand monetary compensation for the death of their daughter. The Ewings, in not notifying the police of the threat to their daughter's life, clearly failed to act responsibly, and for this reason, we believe they can be held legally responsible for Tonya Smith's death. And, by extension, because the Black community as a whole is not acting responsibly in regard to Black crime, and, specifically, Black crime perpetrated against the White community, we believe that the White community, as plaintiff, has the legal right to file a class-action, civil lawsuit against the Black community of America, charging them with complicity in all crimes committed by Blacks against the White community.

Furthermore, we believe that Blacks who have acted irresponsibly in conjunction with a criminal offense, such as the Ewings, who admitted that Carl Walton threatened to kill their daughter, should also stand trial in criminal court for complicity to commit homicide, and, if found guilty, that they be sentenced to serve time in prison. We invite the members of other racial groups in America who feel that they are also being victimized by Black crime, and who believe that the Black community is not acting responsibly, to join us in an eventual class-action civil lawsuit. We must take measures now to hold the Black community responsible for the countless crimes that Black people are committing.

On an individual level, a crime such as the double murder committed by Carl Walton, points out that White people have to be very cautious when associating with Blacks. Mr. and Mrs. Ewing told reporters that Ronique's friend Tonya was just "in the wrong place at the wrong time." This expression is a common cliché, but it doesn't provide much consolation for Tonya's parents. One could be cynical and say that the "wrong place" in this case, was spending time with a Black person. Unfortunately, things have developed to the point, as this case illustrates, that associating with Black people can be defined as "always being in the wrong place," because Blacks have come to be synonymous with crime and violence.

We usually alert all people, and especially White women, to be cautious about associating with Black males, but this case clearly illustrates that one has to be cautious about associating with all Blacks, male and female. Tonya Smith was in the company of her Black friend, Ronique Ewing, and she had no idea that on that day Ronique would be the object of a Black predator. But, when one takes into consideration that Blacks solve so many of their disputes through violence, you never know when an ex-boyfriend or "friend of the family" is going to hunt down and murder the Black person who you are with. And, during those moments of rage, you, also, will likely be attacked. It is, of course, unfortunate, that our society has developed in this way, but we must, unapologetically, take whatever precautions are necessary for our survival.

Yours Faithfully, Liberty