Jerri Roby acknowledged killing John Allen Gaither after investigators found his body concealed behind a false wall in their Gulfport home.

GULFPORT, Miss. — A Mississippi woman was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the killing of her 42-year-old son, ending a case that began with a missing-person report and eventually exposed a sustained effort to make relatives believe the victim was still alive.

Jerri Roby, 69, entered the plea July 22 in the death of John Allen Gaither, who lived with her in Gulfport before disappearing in December 2023. Investigators later found Gaither’s body inside a large wooden box behind a makeshift wall in the front portion of Roby’s house. Authorities said he died from a gunshot wound to the back of the head. Roby’s plea brought the criminal case to a close more than two years after her arrest and after prosecutors had assembled evidence involving purchases, digital records, forged communications and statements she made during the investigation.

The investigation began after Gaither abruptly stopped communicating with relatives who were accustomed to hearing from him regularly. Family members became concerned in December 2023, and Gulfport police opened a missing-person investigation. Early reporting on the case placed Gaither’s last known activity around Dec. 10. By Dec. 22, relatives had contacted law enforcement to report that they had not heard from him. The disappearance stood out because investigators were told Gaither normally remained in frequent contact with family members in other states.

Roby initially offered explanations that suggested her son had left Mississippi voluntarily. Police said she told investigators that Gaither had traveled to Louisiana, at one point saying he had taken an Uber there in connection with buying or selling a vehicle. Investigators reviewed his ride-sharing records and found no activity that supported the account. Gaither’s blue Ford Fusion also remained at the Gulfport property, according to testimony later described in local court coverage. As relatives and police continued asking where he was, Roby’s explanations changed rather than resolving the questions surrounding his disappearance.

Relatives also began receiving communications that appeared to come from Gaither. His stepmother reported receiving a letter that purported to explain that he had gone to the Philippines to meet a woman. Other communications included text messages, photographs and a phone call. Instead of reassuring the family, the messages raised additional suspicions. In early January 2024, Gaither’s stepmother and brother contacted authorities again and said they did not believe the communications were actually coming from him. That skepticism became an important part of a case in which investigators increasingly focused on whether someone was trying to manufacture signs that Gaither remained alive.

Physical evidence at Roby’s home added another layer to the investigation. During an early visit to the property, police found a Home Depot receipt tied to purchases that included 15 bags of sand, patch-and-seal tape, straw and a dumpster bag. Investigators later identified another shopping trip involving plastic sheeting, soil and tape. Local court reporting said the purchases were backed by store records and surveillance evidence. The timing drew attention because some of the materials had been purchased before Gaither was reported missing and were similar to materials eventually found where his body had been concealed.

Police obtained a search warrant for Roby’s home on Jan. 18, 2024. Inside the front portion of the residence, investigators discovered what authorities described as a false or makeshift wall. Behind it was a large wooden box. Gaither’s body was inside, covered with materials similar to items traced to Roby’s purchases. Investigators had to deal with alterations to the room that included the wall and other sealed areas. An autopsy determined that Gaither had died from a single gunshot wound to the back of his head. The discovery transformed the investigation from a search for a missing man into a homicide case.

After receiving medical treatment following the search of the home, Roby was interviewed by investigators. Prosecutors later said she acknowledged forging letters that appeared to come from Gaither, sending text messages while pretending to be him and persuading her boyfriend to participate in a phone call intended to make relatives believe Gaither was alive. She also acknowledged taking Gaither’s cellphone to Florida so calls made from it would register with cellular towers there, according to the account Assistant District Attorney Matthew D. Burrell provided after the plea. Investigators viewed those steps as part of an effort to divert attention from the Gulfport home.

Roby gave different accounts of the shooting as the case progressed. During the investigation, prosecutors said she claimed Gaither had shot himself and that she concealed the body because she feared the consequences. At her 2026 plea hearing, however, Roby admitted that she shot her son. She told the court the decision was made in the spur of the moment and connected it to what she described as his depression. Judge Randi P. Mueller rejected that explanation, pointing to preparations and purchases before the disappearance as well as Roby’s repeated efforts afterward to mislead relatives and investigators.

The case had moved through several stages before the guilty plea. At a February 2024 preliminary hearing, Gulfport police Detective Justin Clifton described evidence collected during the first weeks of the investigation. A judge found sufficient evidence for the case to proceed and ordered Roby held without bond. A Harrison County grand jury later indicted her on first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a felon. By then, investigators had documented the disputed travel stories, communications sent in Gaither’s name, consumer records, surveillance evidence and financial activity involving Gaither’s accounts.

Local court reporting also showed that investigators examined withdrawals from Gaither’s bank accounts after his disappearance. Detective testimony indicated Roby had authorization to use the accounts, but police nevertheless considered the timing of withdrawals as part of the broader sequence they were reconstructing. Investigators reviewed Gaither’s movements on Dec. 10, including visits to a storage unit where he worked on vehicles and to a local store. The records helped establish a last-known timeline while police compared those documented movements with later claims that he had suddenly traveled out of state or left the country.

Roby’s criminal history also became part of the investigation and pretrial proceedings. Authorities learned she had previously served prison time in Florida after killing Christina Racey in 1993. Court reporting said that earlier case also involved efforts to conceal the victim’s body, and prosecutors cited Roby’s history and her prior flight after posting bail when arguing that she should remain jailed in the Mississippi case. The earlier conviction was not evidence that she committed the later killing, but it affected how authorities assessed her risk while the new charges moved through court.

By the time Roby appeared before Mueller in July 2026, the central question was no longer whether prosecutors could prove the case at trial. Roby admitted first-degree murder, and the judge imposed a life sentence in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections. District Attorney Crosby Parker credited investigators with continuing the case despite what he described as extensive efforts to mislead them. Prosecutors said they hoped the plea and sentence would provide accountability and some measure of closure for Gaither’s relatives after years of criminal proceedings.

The sentence leaves Roby in state custody following her guilty plea to Gaither’s murder. No trial is expected on the first-degree murder charge because the plea resolved that allegation. The case that began with relatives asking why Gaither had stopped calling ended with Roby’s admission in court that she was responsible for his death and with a life sentence imposed more than two and a half years after he disappeared.

Author note: Last updated Aug. 26, 2026.