CLOSE A Maryville College football player has been charged in the murder of a Central High School cheerleader. Angela Gosnell/News Sentinel 
 
 William Riley Gaul (Photo: Knox County Sheriff's Office) 
 
 A Central High School cheerleader found dead Monday and the Maryville College football player charged with killing her had ended their romance in recent weeks, although he refused to accept the breakup, the victim's aunt said. 
 
 William Riley Gaul, 18, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 16-year-old Emma Jane Walker, who was fatally shot in her bedroom while she slept, according to the Knox County Sheriff's Office. 
 
 The body of the high school junior was discovered about 6:30 a.m. Monday at 6802 Cardindale Drive in North Knox County. It appeared she had been shot from outside the home, authorities said. 
 
 "She had chosen to move on," Jenny Weldon, Walker's aunt, said Wednesday. "He refused to accept it. He chose not to accept her wishes." 
 
 Weldon described her niece as a "beautiful soul" who was anxious to graduate high school and begin studying toward her dream of becoming a neonatal nurse. 
 
 "Her heart was in service," Weldon said. "She was born to be a helper." 
 
 After the shooting, detectives quickly placed Gaul under surveillance, concerned that he was preparing to destroy evidence connected to the killing, according to the Sheriff's Office. He was taken into custody at the Woodlands Apartments on Cherokee Trail late Tuesday night. Gaul, of Knoxville, remained jailed Wednesday in lieu of $750,000 bond. 
 
 A preliminary hearing has been scheduled Dec. 2 in Knox County General Sessions Court. 
 
 Gaul, a 2016 Central High graduate who played on the school's football team, is listed as a freshman wide receiver on the Maryville College roster. Maryville College spokeswoman Chloe Kennedy said Wednesday afternoon Gaul has been dismissed from the football team. 
 
 "Our student was a wonderful young lady, a cheerleader and honor student with a promising future, whose life was cut too short, too soon," Central High School Principal Michael Reynolds said in a statement Wednesday. "At this time, our hearts and thoughts and prayers are with the family as they go through this grieving process. We thank everyone in our community for their tremendous support." 
 
 Grief counselors were on hand at Central High on Tuesday. Friends and family crowded the school's football stands during a vigil at later that night. 
 
 "We have not ceased to have support and encouragement and love from all over," said Weldon, speaking for the family. "We feel every bit of that. 
 
 "We adored her, and it's nice to know so many others did as well." 
 
 Gaul posted several tweets professing his love for Walker, including a lengthy tribute that appeared online several hours after she was found dead. 
 
 "Living everyday through Emma Walker. I love you beautiful and I know you're in a better place now," Gaul's Twitter bio reads. 
 
 A memorial fund has been established at Regions Bank to assist the Walker family with funeral expenses. Contributions can be made at any Regions branch or online. 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://knoxne.ws/2gjMzsV 

 Add a location to your Tweets 
 
 When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more 

 KNOXVILLE (WATE) – A freshman football player at Maryville College has been charged in a murder investigation of a high school girl. 
 
 William Riley Gaul, 18, was charged with first degree murder, according to the Knox County Sheriff’s Office. Martha Dooley, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said the victim’s name was Emma Walker, 16. The teen was found dead in her home with a gunshot wound. 
 
 The sheriff’s office said at a press conference on November 30 that Gaul fired into her home while she slept, knowing where she was in the house, and then jumped the fence and fired again. Investigators say the two had an ongoing tumultuous relationship. 
 
 Students gathered at Central High School Tuesday night to remember Walker. 
 
 “On the pep rally day, she let me come and cheer with her and dance with her,” said friend Ashley Beets. 
 
 Beets brought balloons and flowers to the memorial next to Central High School’s football field. 
 
 “She’s my best friend,” said Beets. 
 
 Teachers at the high school are heartbroken over this loss. 
 
 “She was a leader both inside and outside the classroom. Always had a smile on her face, just a beautiful soul and she’s going to be missed by a lot of people,” said Chris Hammond, a health science teacher at CHS. 
 
 Hammond says Walker had told him she wanted to be a neonatal nurse. 
 
 “She had the kind of disposition and the heart that it would take to do that job.” 
 
 While it will take time to heal, many are remembering the mark she’s left behind at the school. 
 
 “Her heart for other people, her love for other people, for kids, for classmates, for school, it’s just overwhelming,” said Hammond. 
 
 Principal Michael Reynolds stated: 
 
 “This has been a very difficult time for the family, students and staff. Our student was a wonderful young lady, a cheerleader and honor student with a promising future, whose life has been cut too short, too soon. At this time, our hearts and thoughts and prayers are with the family as they go through this grieving process. We thank everyone in our community for their tremendous support.” 
 
 A crowdfunding page was set up to help Walker’s family. The donations will go toward a fund set up for Walker’s parents Mark and Jill at Regions Bank. Also, deposits can be made at any branch location. 
 
 To Donate: Emma Walker Memorial Fund 
 
 On the crowdfunding page, family friend Aneisa McDonald wrote: 
 
 “Her fun, kind, sweet spirit was contagious. Emma was a beauty inside and out. Our community was blessed to know her. Her dream was to become a nurse.” 
 
 Investigators believe the suspect fired into the teen’s bedroom from outside the home while she was sleeping. Gaul was arrested at the Woodlands Apartments on Cherokee Trail and is being held on a $750,000 bond at the Knox County Jail. 
 
 Investigators believe Gaul was trying to destroy evidence related to the investigation. 
 
 Gaul, who is graduated from Central High School, played as a wide receiver for Maryville College. On Tuesday, he posted a series of tweets about the victim. 
 
 Maryville College released a statement, saying: “Maryville College is cooperating fully with the Knox County Sheriff’s Department in this investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family and friends and other individuals affected by this tragedy.” 
 
 Ashlee Alleman, Gaul’s mother, did not want to go on camera but spoke to WATE 6 On Your Side on the phone. She said, “Riley did not do this. He would not hurt here because he loved Emma dearly. He is not a monster.” 
 
 Alleman said Walker and Gaul were still really close. She said Gaul helped Walker with a paper for school on Sunday. 
 
 I love you Emma, I can't be around any of that yet, it's too soon. I know you know I'm dying to be there but understand I can't. I love you. — Riley (@rileygaul) November 22, 2016 
 
 That's my beautiful Emma. Rest easy now sweetheart. 1 Corinthians 13:8. Be sure to remind God about our verse.I love you.Forever and always. pic.twitter.com/gD2stHbY3z — Riley (@rileygaul) November 21, 2016 

 Add a location to your Tweets 
 
 When you tweet with a location, Twitter stores that location. You can switch location on/off before each Tweet and always have the option to delete your location history. Learn more 

 KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- A football player at Division III Maryville College in Tennessee faces a first-degree murder charge in the shooting death of a 16-year-old girl who had reportedly recently broken up with him. 
 
 Knox County Sheriff’s Office officials announced Wednesday that William Riley Gaul, a freshman wide receiver, was arrested in connection with the death of Emma Walker. 
 
 WVLT 
 
 Sheriff’s officials said Walker was found dead of a gunshot wound inside her house Monday morning. Officials said evidence at the scene indicted Gaul fired shots into her bedroom from outside the house while she slept. 
 
 Walker was a student at Central High School in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she was reportedly a cheerleader. Maryville’s football roster indicates Gaul graduated from Central High. 
 
 Jenny Weldon, Walker’s aunt, told the Knoxville News Sentinel the girl had ended a romantic relationship with Gaul in recent weeks, but he refused to accept the breakup. 
 
 “She had chosen to move on,” Weldon told the paper. “He refused to accept it. He chose not to accept her wishes.” 
 
 Weldon described her niece to the paper as a“beautiful soul” who was looking forward to graduating high school so she could begin studying to be a neonatal nurse. 
 
 “Our student was a wonderful young lady, a cheerleader and honor student with a promising future, whose life was cut too short, too soon,” Central High School Principal Michael Reynolds said in a statement Wednesday released to the paper. 
 
 “Maryville College is cooperating fully with the Knox County Sheriff’s Department in this investigation. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family and friends and other individuals affected by this tragedy,” Maryville athletic department spokesman Chris Cannon said in a statement. 
 
 Maryville coach Shaun Hayes said through a spokesman that Gaul has been dismissed from the football program. Maryville already has completed its season. 
 
 Officials said Gaul was being held at the Knox County Jail on $750,000 bond. A preliminary hearing has been set for Dec. 2.
– In splitting from her boyfriend, Emma Jane Walker, 16, "had chosen to move on," her aunt tells the Knoxville News Sentinel. "He refused to accept it." Walker—a cheerleader at Central High School in Knoxville, Tenn., who hoped to become a neonatal nurse, per WATE—was found dead in her bed around 6:30am Monday, fatally shot through a window, police say, per WBIR. Hours later, ex-boyfriend William Riley Gaul, 18, a football player at Maryville College and recent Central High grad, posted a lengthy tribute to Walker on Twitter, noting "the amount of pain your family, me, the community are in because of this is insurmountable." But by the time those words were posted, Gaul was already a suspect, according to police. Officials say he was initially placed under police surveillance for fear he would destroy evidence linked to the murder, and then arrested late Tuesday and charged with first-degree murder, police say. According to a warrant, Gaul fired "a gun into the residence with exact proximity to where the victim … was sleeping." It isn't clear when Gaul and Walker broke up, but a Nov. 9 tweet from Gaul reads, "I'd do anything to have it all back." In a statement to WATE, Gaul's mother says the teens remained close after the breakup and Gaul had helped Walker with schoolwork on Sunday. "He would not hurt her because he loved Emma dearly," she says. "He is not a monster." Gaul, held at the Knox County Jail on $750,000 bond, is due in court on Dec. 2, reports CBS News.