Woman accused of killing her son, hiding his body in container behind false wall

GULFPORT, Miss. — A woman was arrested Saturday in Gulfport, Mississippi, after investigators found a deceased man in a wooden box behind a false wall in her house at the end of last month.

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The Gulfport Police Department said on Saturday, Jerri Lynn Isreal was charged with a count of first-degree murder.

Police said that on Dec. 22 just before 6 p.m., officers were called to a house in the 2200 block of 16th Avenue for a welfare check for a possible missing person.

Investigators went back a few times over the week to follow up and noticed some inconsistencies in Isreal’s statements, according to WLOX. She reportedly became uncooperative and her statements kept changing.

Through the investigation, it was learned that Isreal was arrested and convicted of murder in Florida in 1995, according to the news station. Detectives in that case learned she had committed murder and tried multiple times to dump the body at different locations around the state. This information led investigators to obtain a search warrant on her house.

Police said on Jan. 18 around 10 a.m., a search was done of the house. Isreal was transported to a hospital in the area for medical treatment. WLOX reported that she was taken to the hospital after consuming an “unsafe amount of pills.”

In the search, investigators found a wooden box with a deceased person inside. Police identified the remains as John Allen Gaither. The box was found behind a false wall.

Gaither was identified as Isreal’s son, WLOX reported.

Isreal was processed and taken into custody. She will be held in lieu of her bond, according to police.

Information about Gaither’s cause of death, manner of death and how long he had been deceased, has not been released.

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