Police Reveal Disturbing Texts Teen Sent Before Mom & 8-Year-Old Sibling Were Killed

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A Utah family is still reeling over the loss of two of its members, and now, chilling information is emerging that could shed light onto their deaths. Jessica Lyman and her youngest son were found shot in her bed. Text messages from Lyman’s oldest son that have been uncovered as part of the murder investigation, and they reportedly show that the teen had some choice words for his mother. It is believed that those words may reveal a potential motive. But many more questions remain.

A search warrant affidavit unlocked text messages sent to Lyman by her 15-year-old son in July 2024, People reported. According to the magazine, investigators believe that the messages reveal a possibly deteriorating relationship between the boy and his mother.

Some of the messages include:

• “F— off h–”
• “I don’t like you go away”
• “Shut the f— up please”
• “I’m more happy when I’m not around you”
• “Shut the f— up can’t hear you womp womp”
• “You’re so f—— mentally ill”
• “Do you know how insignificant you are in my life? Very insignificant”
• “I wish I died in your stomach. Wouldn’t have to put up with you.”

About 10:15 a.m. on March 28, 2025, police were called to the home of 44-year-old Jessica Lyman, KSL reported. Her 17-year-old daughter had found Lyman and her 8-year-old son, Eli Painter, “lying in bed, unconscious and bleeding from their heads.” The girl told 911 that her teenage brother might have been at home. 

Police discovered both Lyman and her son had been shot in the head. Eli Painter was pronounced dead at the scene, per KSL. Lyman was taken to the hospital, where she died several days later.

When police talked to the teen boy, he said he had been in his room napping and didn’t hear anything. An officer asked if there were any weapons in the house. The teen said he didn’t know about any “guns” in the house.

“At that point, [the boy] had not been told by EMS or police officers that the incident involved a gun or gunshot wounds,” police wrote in the search warrant, KSL reported.

As detectives searched the home, they found two .22-caliber shell casings. A search of the boy’s room turned up two BB gun pistols, plate carriers, and magazine pouches. There was also a note that referenced “several forms of forensic evidence” including “serology,” “DNA,” and “firearm testing,” according to the affidavit, People reported. Police also located a second handwritten note stating, “This is a murder story,” the warrant states.

Per the warrant, Lyman’s underwear was found “pulled around her knees.” An alternate light source used in her room uncovered “dried seminal fluid on the sheets adjacent to where Jessica had been lying.”

A doctor from Utah Valley Regional Medical Center also told police he found suspicious seminal fluid on Lyman in the hospital. In addition, a pair of matching fishnet stockings were found in both Lyman’s and her son’s rooms. 

The investigation is ongoing. According to People, no arrests have been made and no suspects have been named. Additionally, the warrant did not rule out the possibility that multiple people were involved in the killings.