Springfield man sentenced to life in prison following murder of partner

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield man who told investigators he shot and killed his partner of 37 years to “shut her up” has been sentenced to life in prison.

Lilburn Motley, 70, was sentenced Thursday, July 31, after he pleaded guilty in May to first-degree murder in the death of Lavonna Haddock, age 61 years old at the time of her death in 2021.

Officers arrived at the scene on Dec. 6, 2021, and found Haddock with a gunshot wound. Motley initially told investigators that he had reassembled and loaded his gun after cleaning it and was beginning to put it away under his pillow when he accidentally pulled the trigger and hit Haddock.

The officer interviewing Motley then told him that he had not found evidence of the gun being cleaned recently. The officer also mentioned that the bullet trajectory did not match the position Motley had said the gun was in.

The probable cause statement says that Motley replied, “I just shot her to shut her up, then.”

In early 2022, Motley was deemed competent to stand trial after his lawyers requested a mental evaluation.