OKTIBBEHA COUNTY – An Oktibbeha County teen will spend the next 25 years in prison for conspiring with an adult to kill her mother.
Lydia Flowers received her sentence Monday in circuit court after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in the December 2023 death of Lou Anda Jones, 48. Since Flowers was 13 at the time of the murder, her sentencing range was 20 to 40 years, a press release from Scott Colom, district attorney for the 16th Circuit, said.
Flowers is required to serve the whole sentence without eligibility of early release due to the violent nature of the crime, the press release said.
Oktibbeha County sheriff’s deputies responded Dec. 5, 2023, to a residence on A.W. Williams Road near Pheba, where they found Jones dead from a gunshot wound to the chest. Investigators found a spent shell casing under the couch and a live round in an adjacent room.
Flowers initially could not be located, and a neighbor reported observing her entering a vehicle and leaving the residence at 9 a.m. the day before.
Digital forensic evidence, witness interviews and physical evidence pointed to Nathaniel Jamar Davis, who was 23 at the time, as the shooter. Deputies arrested him Dec. 7. Deputies also recovered the murder weapon, the press release said, along with text messages of Davis saying he shot someone and references to a plot with a girl who “wanted her so-called mom dead.”
More digital and physical evidence showed the murder was premeditated with Flowers’ knowledge and participation. Davis also told investigators the two had discussed plans to kill Jones, including a failed plan to poison her.
Flowers was arrested on Dec. 8.
“Lou Anda Jones was a mother who did not deserve to have her life taken – especially not in a plot that involved her own child,” Colom said in the press release. “The evidence clearly showed that this was not a random act of violence, but a carefully planned conspiracy that ended in the ultimate betrayal. We hope this plea brings some measure of justice and closure to Ms. Jones’ loved ones.”
Davis’ case is still pending in circuit court, Colom told The Dispatch on Tuesday.
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