A Walmart employee was fatally stabbed during her late-night shift, and the man arrested for the killing told police he believed she was a “demon” who had been stalking him. Officers were called to the Walmart Supercenter on U.S. 65 last week upon reports of a man stabbing a female employee.
According to Fox News, police arrived within roughly a minute and found 37-year-old Zeddrick Ross still armed with a knife. Officers gave multiple commands for him to drop the weapon, but he refused and advanced toward one of them. An officer fired a single shot that missed Ross, and another officer then used a Taser to subdue him.
After Ross was taken into custody, officers and medical personnel gave emergency aid to the victim, 32-year-old Jordanne Drinkwater. She died at the scene. Ross was booked into the Faulkner County Detention Center and is currently being held without bond on a first-degree murder charge. Police confirmed no one else was injured.
Ross had no connection to the victim and believed he was fighting off a demon
Investigators said Ross was not a Walmart employee, did not know Drinkwater, and had no known prior interaction with her. According to the police affidavit, Ross told a detective he had been pursued by what he described as a “demon” and had armed himself with a knife for protection.
He reportedly believed he was confronting that figure when he stabbed Drinkwater multiple times. This case is among several recent criminal incidents reported inside Walmart stores across the country.
— Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) April 4, 2026
BREAKING: Mother of the man accused of stabbing a Walmart employee to death because he believed he was killing a “demon” says she knew he was a "loose cannon ready to snap" and that "she hopes they never let him out – because he might do it again"
Zeddrick Ross, 37, told… pic.twitter.com/WI9njlQr1P
He later told investigators he realized she did not resemble the person he thought had been following him. The affidavit also revealed that Ross admitted to stealing the knife earlier and had gone to the store with the intention of getting another weapon.
Drinkwater, known as “Puff” to her friends, has been described as an “amazing human being.” Sam Slaughter, who had known her for nearly a decade, shared her reaction upon hearing the news. “I called him and I said, ‘You’re kidding. It’s not, not, not Jordan, not Puff, right? Like, that’s not Puff, right?’ And the world stopped,” Slaughter said.
Slaughter also said, “I never met somebody as, as, as pure as Jordan. I don’t, I didn’t understand. I still don’t understand why it had to be her. She helped change my entire life for the better – everything from staying sober to the way I think about the world and how it works and not putting more hate into it and just trying to do better. She was an amazing human being. She’s going to be so, so missed.”
Records from the Independence County District Court show Ross has a prior criminal history, including a 2020 theft misdemeanor conviction and a 2022 conviction for obstructing governmental operations in Faulkner County District Court, which resulted in a one-year probation sentence.
Walmart has also been in the news recently for other reasons, including a simple Walmart scam that shocked many shoppers. The officer who fired during the encounter has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure following an officer-involved shooting. The investigation remains ongoing.
