Rachel Suzanne Wagner, a 51-year-old White woman originally from New Zealand, had built a life for herself in Tifton, Georgia. She was a devoted mother who worked two jobs to provide for her 14-year-old daughter, Lilyana Rose Wagner, whom she homeschooled. Family members described the two as best friends, with Rachel’s sister-in-law saying Lilyana was her mother’s “whole world.” But in the months leading up to November 2024, relatives noted that the teenager had become withdrawn and antisocial.
On the morning of November 19, 2024, authorities in Bibb County, about 100 miles north of Tifton, responded to a single-car accident involving Lilyana. When Tifton police went to Rachel Wagner’s home on East 18th Street to notify her, they received no answer at the door. After learning from her employer that she had not shown up for work, officers got help from the landlord to enter the residence.
Inside, they found Rachel in her bed in a back bedroom, deceased from a single gunshot wound to the back of her head.
The investigation immediately focused on Lilyana, who had taken her mother’s car after the shooting. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation joined Tifton police, and a months-long analysis of the teenager’s phone revealed a disturbing secret life. Investigators found that Lilyana had become obsessed with school shootings and mass casualty events, building an online reputation for her interest in planning such an attack. She used phone apps to communicate with anonymous people who encouraged her to commit violence. The gun she used had been purchased by her mother at a pawn shop a month earlier; Rachel had allowed her daughter to keep the pistol and ammunition in her bedroom.
In a handwritten confession, Lilyana admitted that killing her mother was a “last-minute choice.” She wrote that she had been planning to commit a shooting at her former middle school but “chose this instead,” listing the names of six school shooters who inspired her. Investigators also found a diary entry that revealed a more immediate motive. Lilyana had carved the initials of shooters she idolized into her thighs and believed her mother would soon discover it. She wrote that this left her with “no other choice” than to kill her.
In August 2026, Lilyana Rose Wagner, then 16, pleaded guilty to felony murder and aggravated assault in the death of her mother. She was sentenced to life in prison and will be eligible for parole after serving a minimum of 30 years. The case is now closed.
