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A 16-year-old Georgia resident pleaded guilty to murdering her mother and received a life sentence after abandoning intentions to carry out a mass shooting at her former middle school, prosecutors announced this week. Lilyana Rose Wagner killed her mother, Rachel Wagner, 51, in November 2024 and was sentenced by Tifton District Attorney Patrick Warren on Tuesday. The teenager will be eligible for parole only after serving 30 years of her sentence.
The crime came to light when Wagner, then 14, crashed her mother’s vehicle, prompting officers to conduct a welfare check at their residence. Authorities discovered Rachel Wagner deceased from a gunshot wound to the head after she failed to appear at work and did not respond to communications. Subsequent investigation revealed the younger Wagner had developed a fascination with school shooters and mass casualty incidents through online platforms and social media.
Wagner confessed in writing that she had contemplated attacking her former middle school but made an abrupt decision to target her mother instead. “This whole thing was a last-minute choice,” she wrote, adding that she had researched six different school shooters. Prior to the killing, she had engaged with anonymous individuals online who encouraged violent planning.
Prosecutors noted that Rachel Wagner had purchased the firearm from a pawn shop a month before her death and permitted her daughter to keep the weapon and ammunition in her bedroom. District Attorney Warren urged parents to monitor their children’s online activity and recognize the dangers posed by digital influences. “I urge you to never underestimate the influence that exists behind your child’s screen,” Warren stated.
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