Amy Leann Hall (Okmulgee County Criminal Justice Authority)
A 43-year-old mother in Oklahoma will spend the rest of her days behind bars for shooting all three of her teenage children in the head while they slept, killing two of them, before leading authorities on a high-speed chase that reached speeds of over 100 miles per hour.
District Judge Ronald A. White on Monday ordered Amy Leann Hall to serve two sentences of life in a federal penitentiary for the 2018 slayings of her 18-year-old son Kayson Toliver and 16-year-old daughter Kloee Toliver, authorities announced. She was also sentenced to an additional 20 years in prison for shooting her 14-year-old daughter in the head, though the teen managed to survive.
All three of Hall’s sentences will run concurrently, meaning at the same time. Per all federal sentences, Hall will have no chance for parole.
Hall in November 2022 pleaded guilty to two counts of murder and one count of assault with intent to commit murder. Prosecutors at the time said that if she did not take the deal and agree to the life sentence, they planned to dismiss the federal case against Hall so that state prosecutors could take on the case and seek the death penalty, Tulsa World reported.
“The horrific violence visited upon this family was unimaginable, and nothing will ever make things right,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma Christopher J. Wilson said in a statement. “Nevertheless, justice requires a careful consideration of all facts, including the interests of the surviving victim. Based on these considerations, the United States recommended a life sentence be imposed in this case.”
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the crime occurred in the early morning hours of Nov. 1, 2018, at the family’s home off South 130 Street in Muskogee County, Oklahoma.
Investigators said that Hall first went into the bedroom of Kayson Taylor and “shot him in the head while he slept, killing him instantly.”
She then went to the bedrooms of Kloee Toliver and her 14-year-old daughter and similarly “shot both in the head as they slept,” prosecutors said.
Emergency medical services found the 16-year-old unresponsive at the scene. She was transported to a hospital for treatment but never regained consciousness. She was pronounced dead four days after suffering her injuries.
A deputy with the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office was the first to arrive at the scene. The deputy spotted Hall attempting to flee the scene in her vehicle and pursued her. Following a chase that exceeded speeds of 110 mph, authorities were able to stop Hall’s vehicle and take her into custody.
Prosecutors previously stated that they did not intend to pursue the death penalty against Hall because it would only add to the pain and suffering of Hall’s surviving child, according to a report from Tulsa, Oklahoma CBS affiliate KOTV.
“This crime was gut-wrenching and there is no question the sentencing is just,” Oklahoma City FBI Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Gray said in a statement. “It is absolutely heart breaking to think a mother could be capable of shooting her own children while they slept.”
