SerpApi.Org
A Mississippi mother has been sentenced to life in prison after killing her own son, concealing his body inside their shared home, and at one point even impersonating him.
Jeri Roby, 69, appeared in court on Wednesday after pleading guilty to the first-degree murder of her 42-year-old son, John Gaither. She received a sentence of two and a half years following the fatal shooting at her Gulfport, Mississippi, residence.
The disturbing incident occurred around December 10, 2023, after which authorities say Roby kept her son's body concealed within the home. Police were alerted by several of Gaither's relatives, who reported losing contact with him while he was living with Roby, according to court documents obtained by local ABC and CBS affiliate WLOX.
- Boy, 4, caught 'sneaking Skittles' is stomped to death by dad on 2-day visit
- Teen foster children stabbed 13-year-old boy who just arrived to new home
As concerns grew, Roby began fabricating stories about her son's whereabouts, but the inconsistencies raised red flags among family members, prompting them to report him missing.
Initially, Roby claimed Gaither had taken an Uber to Louisiana to purchase a vehicle; however, his Uber account showed no activity, casting serious doubt on her account of events.
Roby subsequently sent a letter to Gaither's father and stepmother enquiring whether they had been in contact with him, noting that his employer had also not seen him. She then sent a follow-up letter to the couple while posing as her son, alleging he had traveled overseas to meet a woman in the Philippines.
Investigators quickly searched Roby's residence, uncovering a receipt from a recent Home Depot purchase. The document revealed several highly suspicious items she had acquired, including 15 bags of sand, patch-and-seal tape, straw, and a dumpster bag.
The shopping trip had occurred roughly a week before the family reported their loved one missing.
Authorities then learned that Roby had previously been incarcerated for killing her drug dealer in December 1993, raising significant red flags. The woman had shot the victim before placing his body in her car's trunk.
Following her arrest, she threatened to shoot herself, but posted bail and fled the area.
She was subsequently located and arrested again in 1995, attempting to take her own life by ingesting a scrubbing solution. Roby was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder.
Given the accumulating evidence and the woman's criminal past, authorities secured a search warrant for the residence in January 2024.
They uncovered a false wall constructed at the front of the house, with a body-sized wooden box concealed behind it. The box was covered with the materials listed on the suspicious Home Depot receipt.
Authorities found Gaither's body inside and subsequently determined he had died from a single gunshot wound.
Roby attempted to take her own life again by ingesting pills as officers removed her son's body, but she received successful medical treatment at the hospital. She later confessed to killing her son and forging letters in his name.
The killer mom informed officers that she sent "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," according to Assistant District Attorney Matthew D. Burrell.
At Roby's plea hearing, she informed the court that she killed her son on the "spur of the moment", and claimed she had put him "out of his misery" due to his suffering from depression, WLOX reported. The callous murderer was ultimately sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
