Montgomery Community Media

Jury selection is expected to be complete Thursday morning in the trial of Tyler Tessier, accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, Laura Wallen, a year ago. On Wednesday, about 30 potential jurors walked one at a time to the judge’s bench for one-on-one questions. Static from a sound system kept their responses from being heard […]

Jury selection will continue Wednesday in the trial of Tyler Tessier, accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend, Laura Wallen a year ago. Public defender Allen Wolf has 20 strikes from the jury pool. Prosecutors have 10. Jury selection is expected to be completed Wednesday, and opening statements could begin Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning. Tessier […]

In a motions hearing ahead of the murder trial of a pregnant school teacher who went missing, and found days later in a shallow grave, prosecutors argued that the best way for jurors to link her alleged killer to the crime is by a visiting the site where her body was found. Montgomery County State’s […]

The man accused of shooting his pregnant girlfriend and burying her body in a shallow grave is expected to appear back in court Friday morning. Tyler Tessier, 34, is charged with first-degree murder of Laura Wallen. He was also charged with altering physical evidence and making false statements to a police officer. Wallen’s disappearance prompted […]

Headlines for gang violence dominated 2017, with bodies found in parks and youths getting lengthy prison terms for orchestrating attacks. “In context, you have to remember that Montgomery County overall is still a very safe place to live. Our crime rate is substantially down. … When you see an aberration in violent crime in one […]

A 10-day jury trial has been scheduled for Tyler Tessier, the Montgomery County man who has been accused of shooting his pregnant girlfriend and burying her in a shallow grave outside Damascus. According to online court records, Judge Michael D. Mason will convene the trial April 9, 2018. Laura Wallen, 31, was believed missing over […]

Tyler Tessier was indicted by a grand jury on Thursday for the death of Laura Wallen. Wallen, 31, was a teacher at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia.  Her family reported her missing and held a news conference at the Montgomery County Police Department’s headquarters in Gaithersburg. She was found dead just days later in a […]

There is a hole in the lives of the Wilde Lake High School community following the death of their teacher and friend. But there was a sense of reassurance Wednesday night during a memorial service at the Wilde Lake Interfaith Center in Columbia, where hundreds of people gathered to celebrate the life of Laura Wallen. Wallen, […]

Public Safety stories dominate the MyMCMedia Top 10 for the week including Tuesday’s guilty plea by Lloyd Lee Welch and our coverage of the Laura Wallen case. Other stories include Governor Hogan’s comments on pitching Maryland for the new Amazon headquarters, and an odd story about a naked man running around a Rockville park.

It was not the ending the Wallen family hoped for. Just three days after pleading for the public’s help to find their missing daughter, the family fought back tears describing the man who has been accused of killing her. “He is a monster and he is a liar,” said Mark Wallen, describing Tyler Tessier. Tessier, […]