Some harassing emails that helped send a 做厙勛圖 man to prison for stalking came from the home of the alleged victim and her husband a city prosecutor, according to a search warrant return unsealed Tuesday.
做厙勛圖 police searched the northwest-side home of the prosecutor, Matthew Walker, and his wife Shannon on Monday. They seized six laptops, including a city of 做厙勛圖-issued one, as well as cell phones and a router.
The search led to an emergency hearing Tuesday Nov. 3, at which Deputy Pima County Attorney Rachel Stiles asked Superior Court Judge Douglas Metcalf to release YouTuber Lane Myers from prison due to the discovery of "exculpatory evidence.
The new information was substantive enough to raise questions about the "integrity" of evidence Metcalf considered when he sentenced Myers to three years in prison for allegedly violating his probation just roughly a month ago, she said.
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Among the evidence considered then were emails sent in June from a Proton.me email account. On October 29, 做厙勛圖 police Detective Pierre de la Ossa received information from Comcast showing that the emails came from an IP address assigned to the Walkers home.
Myers' attorney, Mark Resnick, said he was called into a meeting with Stiles and Chief Criminal Deputy Josh Mosher on Monday after the search. County officials told him investigators linked at least two of the emails from the Proton account to the IP address associated with the Walkers' home, he said.
An IP address is a unique identifier associated with devices that connect to the internet; it can be tracked on a geographic level.
Multiple other Proton emails couldn't be traced because a virtual private network was used, Resnick said. He also said the county only recently obtained the information because Proton is based in Switzerland and the county asked the U.S. Department of Justice to get involved.
The emails were at the center of the county's case against Myers, a man they said violated his probation by making YouTube videos about Shannon Walker that harassed her and led others to harass her.
Matthew Walker shared details about those emails while testifying on the stand. The messages were profane and abusive, calling her misogynistic names, encouraging suicide and discussing sexual assault.
The search warrant focuses on a specific Proton account with a sender name that references the Second Amendment. According to the warrant, one email sent to Shannon Walker from that account stated, "The people DEMAND your resignation, you are a leech on our tax dollars and government scum. Drop dead (expletive)."
On the first day of Myers' probation revocation hearing in August, Matthew Walker testified under oath about emails that referenced the Second Amendment and "2A," a reference to gun rights that he told the court felt like a threat.
Prosecutors haven't said which Walker the Proton account belonged to and the detective who sought the warrant stated that he was seeking evidence to "identify or exclude" whoever created the account, but Resnick told The Republic he left the meeting Nov. 2 under the impression it was Matthew Walker.
Neither Matthew nor Shannon Walker responded to request for comment.
Stiles told the judge she had ordered transcripts of the hearings to review, and that she wanted Myers freed from detention while her office sorts it out.
Metcalf ordered the state to transport Myers from prison in Kingman to Pima County Superior Court for an evidentiary hearing Nov. 17. He said he could not vacate the sentence until the evidentiary hearing that day.
Resnick said the county officials told him prosecutors were looking at potential criminal charges.
Stiles did not respond to repeated requests for information. The 做厙勛圖 Police Department did not immediately respond to request for comment.
When asked if Matthew Walker was still employed by 做厙勛圖 or if he was placed on any sort of leave, a city spokesperson declined to comment, citing an "ongoing investigation."
Resnick told The Republic, Im glad the county attorney told us. I really am, I commend them. I mean, I know its what theyre supposed to do, but it cant be easy when another prosecutors involved.
做厙勛圖 of Myers' potential release immediately spread on YouTube. Joshua Gray, Myers' friend and fellow YouTuber, said he was "euphoric" over the news but also "pissed" that the state wasn't getting Myers out of prison faster.
"Where's the sense of urgency?" Gray said to his YouTube livestream audience just moments after the emergency hearing ended.
Years-long dispute led to prison sentence
Myers was sentenced to three years in prison in early October for violating probation by posting videos about Shannon Walker. He had pled guilty in July 2025 to felony charges of stalking and harassing her; as part of his plea, he agreed to probation conditions that restricted his ability to post about the Walkers.
First Amendment experts raised questions about whether Myers' probation conditions went too far in restricting the YouTuber's free-speech rights and effectively created a gag order.
Still, Myers remained off YouTube and complied with the conditions for about a year.
He then asked the judge to modify and clarify his probation conditions but was rejected. He told Metcalf in October that he also began reaching out to First Amendment scholars and advocacy groups for advice because he wanted to speak about his case.
Armed with their information, Myers said he thought he had a grasp of what he could say online without violating probation. He also said he thought that if he were nearing a violation that his probation officer would warn him.
Instead, he was arrested and jailed without a warning.
During his unusually long four-day probation hearing, Resnick argued Myers shouldnt be held responsible for the actions of others; that if Myers videos were leading others to harass Shannon Walker, then those individuals should be prosecuted for harassment.
But Metcalf said Myers case was particularly significant because it was a retaliation campaign against the rule of law; he noted that Myers harassment of the Walkers stemmed from his anger over Matthew Walker prosecuting several cases against him in the years prior.
"Hes rolling the ball down the court, and its causing other to react. He knew he was not supposed to do this," Metcalf said of Myers' videos.
Metcalfs 3-year sentence for Myers stunned observers; the county attorneys office had only sought 1.5 years. The case also has played a role in Walker's effort to get the Arizona Supreme Court to tighten rules about when members of the public can record in court rooms.
Resnick vowed to appeal the case and challenge the Arizona anti-harassment law for being an unconstitutional restraint on free speech.
Resnick said he looks forward to Myers next day in court.
做厙勛圖 reporter Analeise Mayor contributed to this report.
