A son’s b0.dy hidden behind a false wall, yet his phone kept sending text messages from another state… A bitter end for the most ruthless woman in Mississippi!
A Mississippi woman has been sentenced to life in prison for killing her adult son in 2023 and hiding his body behind a fake wall in her home.
John Allen Gaither, 42, was found dead in a wooden box hidden behind a “false wall” at a Gulfport, Miss., residence on Jan. 18, 2024, the Gulfport Police Department said at the time.
His mother, 69-year-old Jerri Roby, pleaded guilty this month to murdering him, WLOX, the Sun Herald and SuperTalk Mississippi News reported from a Harrison County, Miss., courtroom.
The investigation began in December 2023 when Gulfport police conducted a welfare check at Roby’s home concerning a missing person, police said in their statement at the time. (Roby’s last name was listed as Israel in that statement.)
Police responded to the home after Gaither’s brother reported him missing, WLOX, the Sun Herald and SuperTalk Mississippi News reported.
Roby then told police that Gaither had taken an Uber to Louisiana — but police could not find any Uber records to substantiate the claim, the outlets reported.
Gaither’s stepmother also told police she had received a letter from him saying he had gone to the Philippines to meet a woman, WLOX reported.
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John Allen Gaither.Wilmington Funeral & Cremation
In a follow-up interview with Roby days after the welfare check, police noticed that she had given conflicting information before she became “uncooperative,” Gulfport police said in their statement.
After learning that Roby had a previous homicide conviction, police searched her home in January 2024 and found Gaither’s remains. The body was covered with materials that matched items Roby had purchased at Home Depot, according to a receipt obtained by investigators, WLOX reported.
An autopsy determined he had been shot in the back of the head, according to WLOX, the Sun Herald and SuperTalk Mississippi News.
The investigation revealed not just Roby’s guilt but also the “extraordinary efforts” she took to hide her crime, proecutors said, according to WLOX.
While Gaither was killed in December 2023, his brother and stepmother contacted police in January 2024 claiming they had received text messages, a phone call and a letter purportedly from Gaither — but they did not believe he was the one behind these messages, WLOX reported.
“During her interview, Roby admitted that she had forged the letters that were sent to family members that were purportedly from Gaither, sent the text messages to family acting as if she was Gaither, convinced her boyfriend to call family members acting as if he was Gaither, and took Gaither’s cell phone to Florida to call family members so the phone would utilize cellular phone towers there,” Assistant District Attorney Matthew D. Burrell said, per the outlet.
Roby said during her plea hearing that she had killed Gaither in a “spur-of-the-moment” decision because she wanted to end what she described as his suffering from depression.
However, the judge challenged that account, noting that Roby had purchased supplies and taken steps to conceal the crime before Gaither was killed.
SOURCE: PEOPLE
https://people.com/mom-killed-son-kid-body-posed-him-messages-12025434
