By MARVIN HAMLETT

Editor

Police are investigating a possible double murder in which a couple may have shot each other to death in their Appomattox County home last Friday morning.

Appomattox County Sheriff Barry Letterman confirmed that Walker Clay Thornhill, 45, and Leilani Maria Vallee, 42, died of apparent gunshot wounds at their residence on Coleman Mountain Road.

A 4-year-old granddaughter was also at the residence during the shooting but was unharmed, Letterman said.

The child was given into custody of family, the sheriff added.

The Sheriff’s Department received the emergency call at about 10:46 a.m. in reference to a man – Thornhill – lying beside the highway on Coleman Mountain Road, which is near the Appomattox County/Buckingham State Forest, Hixburg and the Hollywood communities.

When deputies arrived at the scene, Thornhill appeared to have gunshot wounds as his barely-alive body rested near the road and his driveway.

Deputies subsequently performed CPR on the man until emergency personnel arrived and also performed life-saving techniques.

Thornhill died at the scene.

Police then went to the residence, where they found Vallee, who had already died of apparent gunshot wounds, Sheriff Letterman said.

The bodies of both victims were transported to the Roanoke Medical Examiner’s Office, and handguns at the scene were recovered and sent to forensics for analysis.

“It appeared they were shooting at each other at this point,” Sheriff Letterman said.

The suspected murder scene would be the third homicide incident in Appomattox County in the last 12 months, with all three suspected of being domestic in nature.

On Jan. 31, 2014, Laura Woody Evans was gunned down in a gas station parking lot. Her estranged husband Butch Evans has been charged with the murder.

On Aug. 1, Joshua Phelps allegedly shot and killed his mother, Laura Phelps Hess, at her home near the Stonewall community. Joshua Phelps also has been charged with murder.