Jude Walton, former police oversight commissioner and head of Avalon Housing’s employee experience, died. When police arrived at the Ann Arbor native’s home to do a welfare check, they discovered her corpse. Her death occurred when she was 51 years old. Her death is now being investigated as a homicide. Police were called to Jude Walton’s Chapin Street home at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday after her employer reported that she had not arrived for work. She was last seen by a neighbor at 8 p.m. the night before, it was learned.
I’m incredibly saddened to hear of the loss of Jude Walton, a former @A2IPOC commissioner and @AvalonHousing’s Director of Employee Experience.
Anyone with information in this ongoing investigation is asked to please contact @A2Police at 734.794.6920 or [email protected]. https://t.co/K8kOzys65q
— Travis Radina (@TravisRadina) April 13, 2023
The interim police chief of Ann Arbor, Aimee Metzer, said in a news release that there were “obvious signs that this was a homicide.” According to police, the suspect entered the residence via a rear window. Metzer stated:
“The majority of the house appeared normal, with no signs of a large number of items being taken or damaged.”
Walton was dubbed a “pillar in the community” for her charitable activities and support for the homeless. At the time of writing, the official cause of death had not been disclosed. According to a police official, there were “obvious signs of trauma on her body.” On Friday, an autopsy was planned.
Everything you need to know about Jude Walton.
Jude Walton came to Ann Arbor from London over two decades ago. According to M Live, she grew up just above her parents’ bar in north London. According to her LinkedIn, she attended the University of Cambridge and earned a Master of Arts in English Literature. She co-founded Zingerman’s Mail Order in 1993. She was apparently granted a 30% lifetime discount after leaving the firm. She also served on the Independent Community Police Oversight Commission as a commissioner. Lisa Jackson, a former coworker, said of Walton:
“She was able to cut through some of the fluff and get directly to the essence of what we wanted to achieve… People believed she was sensible, and they respected her for it. She didn’t say much, but she was someone we all paid attention to.”
She began working with Avalon Housing in December 2008. According to her LinkedIn page, she was named Director of Human Resources and Administration. She had spent the previous 14 years with the Ann Arbor group. The non-profit paid homage to its former employee on its official Facebook page. They wrote about her character on the internet:
“Jude was a wonderful person who was thoughtful, kind, amusing, talented, brilliant, self-effacing, and insightful. She was the one we all turned to when things got tough at work. It’s hard to picture Avalon without her. We are mourning this unfathomable loss.”
Jude Walton loves photography and was an amateur photographer in her spare time. At the time of writing, no arrests have been made in connection with Jude Walton’s death.
