Ex-police oversight commissioner found dead in her home: “This was a homicide”

Authorities have launched a homicide investigation after a former police oversight commissioner was found dead in her Ann Arbor home on Thursday. Jude Walton, 51, had been the commissioner of Ann Arbor’s Independent Community Oversight Commission.

Ann Arbor police said in a news release that they arrived at Walton’s home in the 200 block of Chapin Street to conduct a welfare check at around 1:30 p.m. local time. They discovered Walton’s body there. According to CBS Detroit, there were signs of a possible break-in, including a damaged rear door. 

“There were obvious signs that this was a homicide,” Interim Police Chief Aimee Metzer said, without providing more details.

A cause of death was not announced. There have been no arrests and police have asked that anyone with information contact them. 

Avalon Housing, where Walton worked as director of employee experience, released a statement on social media, saying Walton was “incredibly thoughtful, kind, funny, talented, smart, self-effacing, and wise.” 

“It’s impossible to imagine Avalon without her,” Avalon said. “We are grieving this unreal loss.”

According to the Independent Community Oversight Commission, Walton was a part of the commission since its inception in 2018. She was the commissioner for her entire time there. She left the organization in 2022, the commission said. 

“We are extremely saddened to hear of her death and we lift her family and friends up in prayer at this terrible time,” the commission said in an online statement. 

According to their website, the commission “was established as a step in reframing the relationship that the residents of Ann Arbor have with the police” and is “an investment in the smart, equitable, community-oriented policing that the Ann Arbor Police Department strives for and that our community deserves.”