Monroe County teen charged with murder in fire deaths of mother, brother appears in court

A 16-year-old girl charged with felony murder and arson in a Monroe County house fire has been extradited to Georgia.

Candace Walton appeared before Monroe County Superior Court Judge Tommy Wilson on Wednesday afternoon. Walton read the charges against her.

She’s accused of setting fire Feb. 27 to the home she shared with her mother and special-needs brother on Old Zubulon Road in southwest Monroe County.

Walton was initially thought to have died in the fire but she showed up alive driving her mother’s car, a white 2007 Chevy Malibu, in McCracken County, Kentucky, late in the afternoon on the same day of the fire.

Her brother, 21-year-old Gerald Walton, and her mother, 46-year-old Tasha Vandiver, died in the fire.

Candace Walton was held without bond Thursday at the Macon Regional Youth Detention Center pending trial, said Anna Lewis, public information coordinator for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

Walton is expected to be tried as an adult based on the seriousness of the charges, but she’s being held at a youth detention center because she’s 16, Lewis said.

Although all Monroe County courts are suspended though April 13 due to concerns over the coronavirus, the judge came in to handle Walton’s first appearance hearing once she was extradited to Georgia, Lewis said.

Walton’s older brother, who lives on his own, attended the hearing — seated behind the prosecutor, Lewis said.

Allen Knox, a public defender for the Towaliga Judicial Circuit, was not reached immediately for comment.

This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 8:04 AM.