TIFTON, Ga. — A 14-year-old Georgia girl was involved in a wreck and told officers she lived alone with her mother. That sent police to the home for a welfare check, finding her mother dead inside.
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Her mother, Rachel Suzanne Wagner, 51, had missed work that morning and wasn’t answering her phone.
Tifton officers found Wagner dead in her bed. She had been shot once in the back of the head.
Nearly two years later, Wagner’s daughter, Lilyana Rose Wagner, now 16, has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to felony murder and aggravated assault in her mother’s death, according to Tifton Circuit District Attorney Patrick Warren.
Wagner was 14 when the killing happened on Nov. 19, 2024.
She had been involved in a crash in Crawford County and was the only person in the vehicle. After she told law enforcement about living with her mother, Tifton officers went to the East 18th Street home.
The investigation that followed uncovered what prosecutors described as a disturbing online obsession with school shootings and mass killings.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents and Tifton police spent months going through information downloaded from Wagner’s phone. They found conversations with anonymous people who prosecutors say encouraged her to plan and commit murder.
Wagner continued communicating with some of those people even after her mother’s death, according to the DA’s office.
One of the apps she used did not have software designed to flag certain keywords or content.
Investigators also determined that the gun used to kill Wagner’s mother had been purchased by Rachel Wagner at a Valdosta pawn shop about a month before her death.
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Prosecutors said Rachel allowed her daughter to keep the gun and ammunition in her bedroom.
In a handwritten confession, Wagner told investigators she had originally planned to carry out a school shooting at her former middle school but changed her plan at the last minute and killed her mother instead.
She also listed six school shooters she knew from memory and said the killing had been inspired by people she encountered online, according to the DA’s office.
The DA said the case should serve as a warning to parents about the influence children can encounter online.
“Parents, I urge you to never underestimate the influence that exists behind your child’s screen,” Warren said.
Warren urged parents to know who is influencing their children and what those people are teaching them to believe is acceptable. He also encouraged parents to keep communication open, saying the best time to intervene is before an online influence becomes a criminal record.
Warren said the case left no winners.
“Rachel is dead and Lilyana will spend the rest of her natural life in prison,” Warren said.
He pointed to the many decisions that led to the tragedy, including the people Wagner encountered online, her access to the gun and ammunition, and whether the family could have received the help and support they needed.
“I can’t help but think of all the decisions that were made that led to this tragic outcome; what if Lilyana had not connected with people online who encouraged her to commit this act; what if Rachel had not purchased the gun and ammunition and given them to Lilyana; and what if they both had received the help and support they needed to live normal, healthy lives? While we are left with these questions, we must use this tragedy to do better in our own lives. To help when we see a need, to speak up when we see something wrong, and to support those who are struggling,” Warren said.
Wagner must serve at least 30 years in prison before she is eligible for parole.
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