Virginia man who killed famed Hollywood Buck sentenced to jail, loses hunting license for 100 years

By: WTVR CBS 6 Web Staff
Posted 3:14 PM, Aug 15, 2024 and last updated 4:53 PM, Aug 15, 2024

RICHMOND, Va. — The man who killed the rare Hollywood Buck known to roam Richmond was sentenced to six months in jail (with three months suspended), fined more than $13,000, and lost his hunting license for 100 years (with 76 years suspended).

Jason Walters, 36, pleaded guilty to all 20 charges related to the deaths of three deer in Virginia, according to the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR). … An affidavit showed a Conservation Police Officer interviewed Walters on December 15, 2023, one day after Walters killed the Hollywood Buck and his pictures were posted on a Facebook page popular among hunters.

Jeff Phillips hosts the Star City Whitetail public Facebook group. He said people from across Virginia send him snapshots of their hunting successes – and he posts them online. Phillips said he posted pictures a man sent him. He said the man claimed the kill was taken in Prince Edward County on the hunt club. Phillips said he made the post and within minutes his phone was blowing up.

“It’s pretty crazy to say in the least. In the time I’ve done this nothing has drawn that type of attention.” he shared.

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VIRGINIA
Hunter to serve jail time for killing Richmond’s beloved ‘Hollywood buck’
Jason Walters and an accomplice, who was sentenced to house arrest, will lose their hunting privileges for years.



The Hollywood Cemetery buck, also known as Prince, was killed in December. (Ben King)

By Laura Vozzella
August 15, 2024 at 5:00 p.m. EDT

RICHMOND — Two hunters pleaded guilty Thursday in the illegal killing of the “Hollywood buck,” a majestic 29-point deer that for years roamed this city’s ornate Confederate burial ground.

Jason Walters of Richmond entered guilty pleas to 20 misdemeanors in Richmond General District Court related to the illegal hunting of three deer, including the buck known in Richmond and beyond as a frequent visitor to historic Hollywood Cemetery.

Walters was sentenced to six months in jail, with three months suspended, and ordered to pay $2,500 in fines and $11,000 in “replacement costs.” He also lost his hunting privileges for 24 years. … “I think he’s just happy to put this behind him and move forward and make sure the restitution is paid,” said Walters’s lawyer, Gregory R. Sheldon.

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Walters was arrested in January on charges that included trespassing, failing to check and tag a deer and littering, according to court records. The charges also related to two other bucks that authorities said Walters poached from a part of Richmond that includes neighborhoods, cemeteries and parkland.

Salvador Rizzo contributed to this report.

By Laura Vozzella
Laura Vozzella covers Virginia politics for The Washington Post. Before joining The Post, she was a political columnist and food writer at the Baltimore Sun, and she has also worked for the Associated Press, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Hartford Courant. Twitter