Nearly two years after she killed her daughter-in-law, Elizabeth “Betsy” Wall pleaded guilty, but mentally ill to murder Friday in a Cobb County courtroom. The 64-year-old was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
On June 23, 2016, Wall picked up her two grandsons from their mother’s home, took the boys to her car then returned inside, where she shot Jenna Wall four times and left her to die, according to investigators. Jenna Wall, 35, a Cobb County kindergarten teacher, was in the middle of a divorce and was living in her parents’ West Cobb home.
RELATED: Mother-in-law charged in Cobb teacher’s shooting death
ALSO: Cobb teacher Jenna Wall honored by friends and neighbors
Betsy Wall had researched shootings and bought a gun more than two months before killing Jenna, police said during a probable cause hearing. Her attorney, Jimmy Berry, said following her arrest that she had spent time in a mental facility.
Jenna and Jerrod Wall, who were married in 2004, had been separated for several months when Jenna filed for divorce in October 2015, court records showed. Jenna Wall claimed that her marriage was “irretrievably broken” in her divorce filing. Jerrod Wall claimed his wife had had an affair and that he wanted custody of the boys, whom he said he was denied the right to see.
To read more on this story, go to our subscriber website, Myajc.com.
In other news:
About the Author
