In a tragic turn of events, a Georgia teenager has been convicted for the horrific murder of her mother, a crime that came to light after her abandoned scheme to execute a school shooting. Authorities reveal that the young girl had developed a disturbing fascination with mass casualty incidents.
The young girl, Lilyana Rose Wagner, aged 16, received a life sentence after admitting to charges of murder and aggravated assault. This grim plea pertains to the November 2024 killing of her 51-year-old mother, Rachel Wagner, according to a statement from Tifton District Attorney Patrick Warren on Tuesday.
The disturbing incident unraveled when a then 14-year-old Wagner crashed the vehicle belonging to her mother. In the aftermath of the accident, she told officers who arrived on the scene that she lived alone with her mother.
Prompted by Wagner’s comment and her mother’s unexplained absence from work and failure to answer phone calls, officers conducted a welfare check at their residence. Tragically, they discovered Rachel Wagner’s lifeless body, the victim of a fatal gunshot wound to the back of her head.
Lilyana Wagner, now 16, has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of her mother, Rachel Wagner. Obsessed with the notion of carrying out a school shooting, she ultimately abandoned that plan, opting tragically to take her mother’s life instead, authorities disclosed. (Tifton District Attorney Patrick Warren; iStock)
Investigators found that the teenage Wagner had become obsessed with school shooters and mass shootings, developing an online and social media reputation as someone interested in planning and executing a mass casualty event.
In a handwritten confession, the teen described the decision to kill her mother instead.
“This whole thing was a last-minute choice,” she wrote. “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.”
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She then listed the names of six different school shooters from memory.
Authorities said the teen named half a dozen school shooters in her confession. (iStock)
In the months before the killing, officials said Wagner communicated via apps with anonymous people who encouraged her to plan and commit murder.
Investigators later found that Rachel Wagner had purchased the gun her daughter used at a pawn shop a month before the killing. She allowed the teen to keep the weapon and ammunition in her bedroom, prosecutors said.
In a statement, Warren warned parents to monitor the content their children view online.
“I urge you to never underestimate the influence that exists behind your child’s screen,” Warren said. “In the courtroom, I see the consequences after the messages and the online encouragement from strangers have already turned into real-world crimes.”
“By then, remorse for your actions cannot erase the damage, and a prosecution cannot give victims back what was taken,” Warren added. “It is your duty to know who is influencing your child, and it is your duty to know what they are being taught to believe is acceptable.”
Lilyana Wagner will serve 30 years in prison before becoming eligible for parole.