Pa. man who fatally strangled mother 'because she was trying to kill and eat him' is sentenced

LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. (TCN) -- A man will spend 35 to 80 years in state prison for strangling his mother to death and smothering her with a pillow in 2023 before stealing her belongings.

The Lancaster County District Attorney's Office announced Zachary Gift's sentencing on Nov. 12 after he pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, robbery, two counts of strangulation, and theft by unlawful taking in connection with the death of his mother, identified by WPMT-TV as Lois Gift.

Judge Craig Stedman called Zachary Gift's crimes a "'betrayal' of his mother's love."

According to prosecutors, on March 20, 2023, police responded to a home on Grant Road to perform a wellness check on Lois Gift after friends, family, and co-workers grew worried about the victim's whereabouts. Officers discovered the 62-year-old woman deceased in the basement, and an autopsy revealed she died of strangulation.

The district attorney's office said after killing his mother, Zachary Gift took the victim's bag, phone, wallet, car keys, and vehicle. Gift later crashed his mother's car into an embankment hours after the fatal attack.

According to prosecutors, Gift told officials his mother was "trying to kill and eat him," so he pushed her and drove away. However, he eventually confessed to "smothering and strangling his mother in her bed" before concealing her body with a bedsheet and driving off in the victim's car with some of her belongings.

In court, Gift reportedly asked for forgiveness from family members and "prayed for his son not to go down the path of 'drugs and violence' that he chose," adding, "I chose drugs over everything."

The district attorney's office said friends and family members of the victim called her a "dedicated parent and grandparent who sacrificed much to get Gift off of his drug addiction by working two jobs, going into debt to get help for him, and shielding the rest of their family from his worst actions."

A friend reportedly said the victim suspected her son "couldn't wait" for her to die "so he could take over her house."

MORE: