A 16-year-old girl has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to felony murder and aggravated assault in the shooting death of her mother. Lilyana Rose Wagner, who was reportedly 14 at the time of the incident, will now face a minimum of 30 years behind bars before she is even eligible for parole.
As reported by True Crime News, the sequence of events began in November 2024, when the Tifton Police Department was requested to conduct a welfare check at a residence on East 18th Street. Law enforcement officials in Crawford County had contacted the department after Lilyana Wagner was involved in a vehicle crash.
She was reportedly the sole occupant of that vehicle, and during the interaction with officers, she mentioned that she lived at home with her mother, Rachel Suzanne Wagner. Rachel Wagner was 51 years old, and alarm bells began to ring when it was confirmed that she had not shown up for work that day and was completely unresponsive to phone calls.
She was shot in the head
When officers arrived at the home to perform the welfare check, they discovered the tragic reality of the situation. Rachel Wagner was found dead in her bed, reportedly having sustained a single, fatal gunshot wound to the back of her head.
The evidence investigators gathered reportedly showed that Lilyana Wagner had been in active communication with anonymous individuals online who were actively encouraging her to plan and commit acts of violence. It became clear that she had developed a disturbing obsession with school shootings and other mass casualty events.
District Attorney Patrick Warren noted the chilling nature of these interactions, stating, “Under no circumstances would you read these communications and think that Lilyana didn’t understand what she did. It was cold, and it was calculated. The anonymous people contacted her asking if she took pictures of her mother before she left. They wanted to see what it looked like.”
According to the District Attorney’s Office, Lilyana had reportedly carved the initials of school shooters she idolized into her own inner thighs. In a diary recovered by investigators, she detailed that she felt she had no other choice but to kill her mother once her mother discovered this self-inflicted harm. Even more alarming is the fact that she continued these online communications even after her mother’s death.
In a handwritten confession, as reported by the Tifton Gazette, Lilyana reportedly admitted to the crime and explicitly stated that she had previously considered carrying out a mass shooting at the middle school she once attended.
She wrote, “This whole thing was a last-minute choice,” and added, “I was going to commit a school shooting at my old middle school but chose this instead. Although I didn’t commit a school shooting, the whole event was inspired by these people,” followed by a list of six specific school shooters.
About a month before her death, Rachel Wagner had reportedly purchased a firearm at a pawn shop in Valdosta. Prosecutors stated that Rachel allowed her daughter to keep that firearm and ammunition in her bedroom. District Attorney Patrick Warren used this case as a stark warning to parents everywhere. He said, “Parents, I urge you to never underestimate the influence that exists behind your child’s screen.”
Warren further added, “In this case, there were no winners. Rachel is dead, and Lilyana will spend the rest of her natural life in prison.” Lilyana will now reportedly stay in prison and must serve a minimum of 30 years before becoming eligible for parole.
Published: Aug 28, 2026 01:15 pm