ASHLAND, Va. - There were no obvious ties between Walmart murder suspect Brittany Wiggins and victim Ashley Fricke, Ashland Police spokesman Officer Chip Watts said Monday morning.
The initial investigation found the two did not know each other prior to Saturday night's fatal shooting.
Police called the shooting an isolated incident, but have not yet discussed a possible motive.
Wiggins, 24, of Mechanicsville, was arrested Sunday and charged with First-Degree Murder, Use of a Firearm in the Commission of a Felony and Shooting into an Occupied Vehicle. She is accused of killing Fricke in the parking lot outside the Walmart superstore on South Hill Carter Parkway in Ashland.
Fricke, 25, was found in a car parked outside Walmart when police were called to store at about 11 p.m. Saturday to investigate a shooting. She had suffered a single gunshot wound, police said.
Fricke worked at Lakeside Primary Care, according to friends.
"I'm blown away. Being the kind of person that Ashley was, sweet, hard working. I was blown away," Ashley's step-mother Barbara Urbaniak-Foster said upon hearing the news of Ashley's death.
Step-brother Stephen Urbaniak said Ashley was the kind of person who put work first.
"She had gotten her medical degree. She had a fiancee and was going to be married," he said. "When I saw and heard what happened, my heart broke."
She had attended Caroline County High School and was engaged to be married.
Anyone with information that could help investigators should call Ashland Police at 804-730-6140 or Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.
