Police say rent dispute leads to murder-suicide at Branson senior-living complex
A 47-year-old apartment manager and a 77-year-old tenant are dead after what investigators are calling a murder-suicide at a senior-living complex in Branson.
Branson police said they responded to a call around 11 a.m. Thursday at Branson Manor on Old Country Road and discovered the body of Whitney Davis, who appeared to have been shot at her management office.
The body of Stephen Walsh, who investigators believe killed Davis in a dispute over rent, was also found at the complex. He died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.
Branson Police Chief Eric Schmitt said in a news conference Friday that Davis and Walsh had previously discussed the tenant's rent situation earlier that day. When Walsh returned to the office, he opened fire on Davis, according to BPD's preliminary findings.
Branson police said the clergy and the police liaison from Burrell Behavioral Health assisted the residents of Branson Manor, described on rental websites as a complex for residents ages 62-plus and a Section 8 community.
Schmitt said that Davis and Walsh were both well-known in the senior-living complex and that its community is heartbroken.
"Two people they thought this would never happen to," said Schmitt, who referenced a mental health crisis in Branson and around the country.
Several friends of Davis, who was married with children, took to social media in the wake of the woman's death.
"Devastating loss of such an amazing mother, wife and friend," a friend posted. "She loved her children and husband fiercely and in a way that inspired so many. Her laugh was life, truly. She was truly one of the (most) vivacious women I have ever known and she will be missed tremendously, the loss is heartbreaking."
Seven weeks before Thursday's fatal incident, Walsh created a small fundraiser on Facebook called "Stop Soldier Suicide." He has no prior criminal history in the area.
There had previously been two deadly shootings since 2021 in the Branson city limits; a double homicide in the parking lot of a restaurant in June of 2021 and a shooting outside of a gas station when Branson police opened fire on a man who resisted arrest and pulled out a gun earlier this year.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Rent dispute leads to murder-suicide at Branson senior-living complex
