Mount Vernon grandmother receives 20-year sentence for shooting two people

LEBANON, Mo. — A Mount Vernon woman accused of shooting her former son-in-law and his girlfriend over a custody dispute has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Beckie Lucille Stalder entered an Alford plea in July to four reduced charges of second-degree assault and was sentenced in Laclede County Circuit Court on Wednesday, Dec. 18. An Alford plea is not an admission of guilt but does concede that evidence would likely lead to a conviction.

Judge Kenneth Hayden sentenced Stalder to five years on each of four counts, which will be served consecutively.

Stalder is accused of shooting her ex-son-in-law and his girlfriend in 2019 in Phillipsburg. Both victims survived. Law enforcement said Stalder was frustrated by an ongoing custody arrangement for her grandchildren.

Stalder’s charges were reduced under a plea agreement from two counts of first-degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action to four counts of second-degree assault.