Overview
- Jerri Roby pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life without parole on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, for the first-degree murder of her son.
- Authorities say Roby shot her 42-year-old son in December 2023 and detectives found his body inside a wooden box behind a false wall during a January 18, 2024, search of her Gulfport home.
- Prosecutors pointed to a Home Depot receipt for sand and sealing materials that matched coverings on the box and to Roby’s admitted actions impersonating her son through texts, letters, phone calls, and by moving his phone.
- Investigators noted Roby’s prior second-degree murder conviction in Florida from the 1990s and reported she attempted suicide when officers removed the body and later required hospital treatment before questioning.
- District attorneys said the case depended on the hidden corpse, forensic evidence including an autopsy showing a single gunshot wound to the head, and Roby’s admissions, and they described the sentence as accountability and closure for the family.