A 16-year-old girl in Georgia has been sentenced to life imprisonment after pleading guilty to murdering her mother, prosecutors said. Authorities stated that she had previously considered carrying out a shooting at her former middle school, making the case significant because it raises concerns about online encouragement of violent plans and young people’s access to firearms.

Rachel Wagner, 51, was found dead from a gunshot wound at her home in November 2024 after her daughter crashed her car and officers carried out a welfare check. Investigators said Lilyana Rose Wagner, then 14, had developed an interest in mass shootings and communicated online with anonymous people who encouraged murder; prosecutors said her mother had bought the gun a month earlier and allowed it to be kept in the teenager’s bedroom. Wagner must serve 30 years before becoming eligible for parole.