(The Center Square) – A member of the St. Louis County Council is requesting the Missouri State Highway Patrol investigate the death of Cora Faith Walker, who was the chief policy officer for County Executive Sam Page.

Multiple media outlets reported Walker collapsed in a hotel in the City of St. Louis on March 11 and died later that day. Media reports stated Walker attended a birthday celebration of close friend Tishaura Jones, the Mayor of the City of St. Louis, the previous night.

“The Mayor and Ms. Walker were apparently together at some point during the evening of her death,” Tim Fitch, a former Chief of the St. Louis County Police Department, wrote in a memo to Maggie Brueggemann, associate county counselor, on Sunday requesting an add-on request for a resolution. “The Mayor has direct authority over the city police and fire departments who have jurisdiction where the death occurred. These facts create a direct conflict.”

Walker resigned her seat in the Missouri House of Representatives in 2019 to become Page’s top policy advisor. She provided oversight for government relations, regulatory affairs and public policy.

Rep. Raychel Proudie, D-Ferguson, paid tribute to Walker on the House floor on Monday.

“Nothing I can do in politics or where I go in politics will not remind me of her,” Proudie said.

House Speaker Rob Vescovo, R-Arnold, then called for a moment of silence for Walker.

Fitch emphasized the need for an impartial agency to handle the case.

“The MSHP can conduct an independent, thorough, and unbiased investigation,” Fitch wrote in the memo and then published on social media. “Even though there have been reports that a federal law enforcement officer is involved, that agency will only investigate potential federal crime(s). Only a law enforcement agency with state authority can investigate potential state offense(s). Since the death occurred in the City of St. Louis, this can only be the MSHP, as they are the only state agency not conflicted in this case.”