Cherry Walker's murder - 5 details explored

In 2010, the burnt body of Cherry Walker was discovered by the side of a rural road in Texas. Walker was a special needs person with a developmental disability who babysat Kimberly Cargill's 4-year-old son as her daytime job.

In a turn of events, Cherry was subpoenaed to appear in court and testify against Cargill's custody case against Child Protective Services. In an attempt to dissuade Walker from testifying against her, Cargill offered to hide her in her Whitehouse home and took her out to dinner when Walker allegedly suffered an epileptic seizure. Kim Cargill testified that she set fire to her body in a state of panic and tried covering her tracks.

The Season 7 Episode 34 of Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry? chronicles the details of Cherry Walker's murder as it reairs on January 15, 2024, at 9 p.m. EST. The synopsis reads,

"Recently divorced Brian Cargill thinks he's met the woman of his dreams; however, Kimberly Cargill is a master manipulator, and her abusive and violent nature tragically leads to murder."

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Five details about Cherry Walker's murder explored

1) Cherry Walker was born with a developmental disability

Cherry Walker, a 39-year-old resident of Texas, was a victim of Kimberly Cargill's abuse. Walker had grown up with a developmental disability which gave her the brain of a 9-year-old. She had recently started to live independently in a separate apartment housing with a daytime caregiver, Paula Wheeler, by her side.

Cherry Walker babysat Kimberly Cargill's 4-year-old son and reportedly took better care of the child than his mother. Walker often missed her doctor appointments to look after the child and would also share her food stamps with him.

2) Kimberly Cargill offered to hide Cherry in her home to prevent her from testifying at the custody hearing

Cherry Walker was served with a subpoena to testify against Kim Cargill as she was facing allegations of child abuse from Child Protective Services. While Cargill stood the chance of losing custody for leaving her son in the care of a woman with special needs, Cherry was unwilling to appear at the courthouse for her reasons.

However, Kimberly grew frantic and suggested Cherry hide in her apartment to avoid showing up at the hearing.

3) Kimberly allegedly drove past the hospital when Cherry was having a seizure

On June 18, 2010, Kimberly Cargill suggested Cherry and she go out for dinner after all her attempts to convince Cherry and Paula to not show up for the custody hearing failed. Even though Cherry mentioned being full after dinner, the two stepped out.

In her testimony later, Kim Cargill alleged that Cherry suffered a seizure in her car when she decided to take her home instead of a bar where she wanted to run into her boyfriend. Kimberly stated that she drove past the local hospital as she realised she had to switch lanes. By the time she drove to Cherry's apartment parking lot, Cherry had allegedly become unresponsive.

Cargill mentioned that she had started on her way to the hospital to realize how the situation may look for her. She drove around for approximately 40 minutes before she set Cherry's still body on fire by the road.

4) Kimberly Cargill had a history of abuse

During Kimberly Cargill's trial hearings, her friends and family testified to her having abusive tendencies as she often hit, choked, and manhandled her four sons. Her three ex-husbands testified to being subjected to random things such as hammers, glasses, aerosol spray cans, and knives being thrown at them.

Kimberly had also choked her mother one time and assaulted her ex-boyfriend's step-grandmother. She fabricated stories of assault and accused two of her ex-husbands who were legally apprehended.

5) Cargill was put on death sentence on May 7, 2012

Kimberly Cargill set Cherry Walker's body on fire to erase traces of her DNA on her clothes as she had performed CPR on her being a vocational nurse herself. Per CBS19TV, Kimberly had a history of mental disorders, arrests and abuse allegations which resulted in her losing custody of one of her younger children.

She was sentenced to death by lethal injection on June 7, 2012, but is presently awaiting an execution date. She had raised 15 appeal claims by 2017 which the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected, according to the Associated Press.