Luke Woodham: Difference between revisions

On October 1, 1997, when Luke Woodham fatally stabbed and bludgeoned his mother, Mary Ann Woodham, as she prepared for a morning jog. An autopsy report revealed that she had eleven slash wounds and seven stab wounds, including stab wounds to the heart and lungs. At his trial, Woodham claimed that he could not remember killing his mother.<ref name="wlbt">{{Cite news |last=Carter |first=Josh |date=2021-06-17 |title=The making of a Mississippi school shooter |url=https://www.wlbt.com/2021/06/17/making-mississippi-school-shooter/ |access-date=2025-02-02 |language=en}}</ref>

Woodham then drove his mother's [[Toyota Tercel]] to Pearl High School. Wearing a trench coat to conceal the rifle he was carrying, Woodham entered the school and gave a manifesto to Justin Sledge. Woodham then fatally shot Lydia Kaye Dew and Christina Menefee, his former girlfriend, then went on to wound seven others.<ref name="wlbt">{{Cite news}}</ref>

Woodham was arrested while his assistant principal was pointing a gun at him and ordering him to get on the ground on October 1, 1997.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-02-21 |title=Mississippi educator who detained gunman in 1997 is against arming school staff |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/mississippi-educator-who-detained-gunman-in-1997-is-against-arming-school-staff/ |access-date=2025-02-02 |work=Seattle Times |language=en-US}}</ref> Less than a week after the shooting, police arrested six other students, charging them with conspiracy to commit murder.

There were separate trials for the murder of Woodham's mother and the school shooting. Woodham's lawyer argued at both trials that Woodham was insane at the time of the killings. Jurors rejected Woodham's [[insanity defense]] at his first trial for the murder of his mother, and he was sentenced to [[life in prison]] on June 5, 1998. His second trial took place on June 12, and he was found guilty of two counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder, with the jurors once again rejecting the insanity defense. He was given two life sentences for the murders and seven 20-year sentences for his attempted murder convictions. He is currently serving three life terms plus an additional 140 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole in 2046, when he is 65 years old.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Mitchell |first=Jerry |title=Pearl High School shooter Luke Woodham wants parole |url=https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2016/05/25/luke-woodham-wants-parole/32625191/ |access-date=2025-02-02 |work=Clarion Ledger |language=en-US}}</ref>