Larry Wayne Bodily has been sentenced to a term of Life in Prison without the Possibility of Parole.

Bodily was found guilty of killing his mother, 68 year old Karen Willmon, back in 2017.

Her body was discovered on February 19th of that year, in the residence the two shared, by Investigators with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Major Crimes Unit.  Willmon’s body, which had been wrapped in plastic, was found placed against the inside of the garage wall – obscured by a large stack of scrap wood.  She had apparently been killed on February 13th, and reported missing the following day after failing to report to work as a school bus driver on the 13th – which was a Monday.

According to Chief Deputy Josh Summerford’s testimony Willmon had suffered two gunshot wounds to the back and severe trauma to the top of the head.

Bodily’s murder trial began on Monday, November 18th of this year (2019), and came to an end on Wednesday of that week, with the jury deliberating for only a half-hour or so, before returning the guilty verdict.

Following the sentencing on Wednesday (December 18th, 2019) of this week, Circuit Judge Andrew J. Hairston read an extremely powerful statement addressing Larry Wayne Bodily’s actions, and during the course of that statement referred to him as “…an evil and dangerous human being,”; he went on to say that although Bodily had attempted to place the blame on Mrs. Willmon herself by trying to portray her as a “bad mother” it was clear the blame must fall squarely on his (Larry Wayne Bodily’s) shoulders.

Bodily then made an oral notice of appeal, which Judge Hairston noted, and although Bodily does have the right to appeal, that doesn’t change the sentence of Life in Prison without the Possibility of Parole.  An Appeals Court will be dealing with the case from this point on.