HANOVER , Va. – The 24-year-old suspect charged with first-degree murder in a Walmart parking lot was released on bond today in Hanover County Circuit Court.
Judge Overton Harris granted Brittany Wiggins bond on Friday. Wiggins, who is represented by defense attorney Joe Morrissey, has been jailed since late February.
Wiggins, 24, is charged with first-degree murder, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, and shooting into an occupied vehicle in connection to a fatal shooting outside the Walmart superstore in Ashland.
Ashley Fricke, 25, was found shot and killed inside her car in the same Walmart parking lot.
Investigators said Fricke and Wiggins had no known connection.
Brittany Wiggins (left) and Ashley Fricke
Morrissey said that Wiggins fired her gun in the air to scare off two men she said were harassing her near her car, for being a lesbian. .
Feeling threatened by the men, Wiggins got into her vehicle and pulled out her gun, Morrissey said. During the tense exchange, Morrissey said Wiggins fired a warning shot into the air.
“We now know that errant bullet struck the innocent victim,” Morrissey said.
Wiggins did not know that anyone had been fatally shot, Morrissey said, until images of her were released to the public and then she promptly turned herself into police.
He said the Wiggins family was heartbroken over the loss of life.
Wiggins is expected to be released sometime this evening.
