Month-long investigation ends with arrest of murder suspect in shooting death of 15-year-old

SNOHOMISH COUNTY -- A month-long investigation into the shooting death of 15-year-old Molly Conley has led to the arrest of a Marysville man. Authorities said it was old-fashioned police work resulted in the arrest.

Erick Nathan Walker, 26, appeared before a Snohomish County judge Monday. Investigators said Walker is the man that shot and killed Conley on June 1.

On June 1, Conley was walking with friends in Lake Stevens when she was shot and killed. Authorities also received multiple calls of other drive-by shootings in the area that night.

For the next four weeks, detectives pounded the pavement and interviewed a dozen witnesses about the shooting spree. They also examined bullets they found -- all of them were unique, 30-caliber carbine rounds, which gave detectives a short list of gun owners.

Black paint chips left behind at one of the scenes also yielded another list of car owners. Only one man's name was on both lists -- Erick Nathan Walker.

Lt. Brent Speyer with the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said, “I am so proud of the work they did. They were out there on a mission to bring the person who killed Molly to justice and get justice for her and her family and the people who loved her.”

In response to the recent news of the arrest, the Conley family released a statement.

"She (Molly Conley) is the reason we are here today,” family friend, Katie Larson said. “And it is her life more than her death that we hope people will remember since it is her life that was so amazing.”

Conley's father was in court today to see his daughter's suspected killer.

"We're going to find out who this was and we're going to find out exactly why and we're going be sure that this doesn't happen to anyone else,” John Conley said in an interview about his daughter's death.

But the "why" of the crime still puzzles detectives and they admit they don't have a motive.

"We don't want to speculate because at this point we don't know,” Speyer said.

But detectives are confident that Walker committed the crime.

Authorities said Walker acted alone, driving from Lake Stevens to his home in Marysville, shooting at random. They are also confident they have the murder weapon among an arsenal of guns found at Walker’s home. The sheriff admitted the investigation took a while but as far as he's concerned, the case is closed.

"Certainly you can understand that the process and the outcome is the most important thing for the sheriff's office and the Conley family,” Sheriff Tom Davis said.