Jamie Satterfield, and Hayes Hickman

Knoxville News Sentinel

A former Maryville College football player charged in the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old Central High School cheerleader has been released after posting a $1 million bond.

William Riley Gaul, 18, was released from the Knox County Detention Facility after posting the appearance bond Monday, the Knox County Sheriff's Office confirmed.

He is required to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet, according to the Knox County Criminal Court Clerk's office.

Gaul faces a seven-count indictment in the November shooting death of Emma Jane Walker, including charges of first-degree murder, especially aggravated stalking and tampering with evidence.

He was set to be arraigned Monday, but his court date has been moved to Feb. 13.

Walker, a cheerleader at Central High School who had ended her relationship with Gaul in the weeks before her death, was fatally struck by a bullet Gaul allegedly fired from outside the Cardindale Drive home in North Knox County into her bedroom while she slept.

The indictment, returned last week, accuses Gaul of stalking Walker beginning in October and stealing the gun used to kill her from his grandfather.

Gaul and Emma Walker met at Central High School, where Gaul played football and basketball before graduating in 2016. He began attending Maryville College in the fall of that year and was listed as a wide receiver on the school's football team at the time of the slaying. He was dismissed from the team on Nov. 23.

According to family members, Emma Walker ended her relationship with Gaul in the weeks before the slaying but Gaul refused to accept the breakup.

Emma Walker's family did not respond to a request for comment Monday.

Gaul talked of suicide to family members in the days before the shooting, according to a search warrant. That alarmed Gaul's grandfather James Walker when he swapped vehicles briefly with Gaul on Nov. 18. When Gaul returned the vehicle, James Walker discovered that the pistol he kept under the driver's seat was missing.

The grandfather didn't report the gun as stolen until two days later on Nov. 20, a Sunday. The next day, Emma Walker's parents found her body.

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The indictment reveals part of the evidence prosecutors will seek to use against Gaul to show both his obsession with her and his intent to cover up his involvement will come from Twitter.

Just hours before Gaul was arrested – and after his ex-girlfriend had already been fatally shot – Gaul tweeted, “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.”

Two weeks before her death, Gaul tweeted, “I’d do anything to have it all back.”

The indictment also alleges Gaul tried to ditch the gun he used after the killing. The Knox County Sheriff’s Office already had Gaul under surveillance after Emma Walker’s body was discovered and moved in to arrest him at his residence at Woodland Apartments on Cherokee Trail when they suspected he was about to rid himself of the stolen gun, according to court records.

Although the primary charge in the indictment is first-degree murder – a premeditated killing – it also alleges felony murder with a novel theory of prosecution. Because Emma Walker was 16, the Knox County District Attorney General's Office is alleging the killing resulted from the underlying felony of aggravated child abuse, though Gaul himself was a teenager and the abuse alleged was domestic in nature rather than that of child and caretaker.