Father takes plea offer in slaying of son's girlfriend

Apr. 16—NEOSHO, Mo. — Rickey Lamb accepted a plea offer Thursday convicting him of second-degree murder in the slaying of his son's girlfriend two years ago in an exchange of gunfire that also left his son critically wounded.

Lamb, 62, of Joplin, was slated to go to trial Monday in Newton County Circuit Court on first-degree murder charges.

If convicted of first-degree murder, he would have faced a mandatory sentence of life without parole. Second-degree murder carries from 10 to 30 years, or up to life, in prison in Missouri.

Lamb's plea deal, which dismisses related counts of first-degree domestic assault and armed criminal action, does afford him a chance at parole, depending on the length of sentence he ultimately receives.

Lamb entered his change of plea before Judge Kevin Selby, who set a sentencing hearing for June 17.

Lamb shot and killed 32-year-old Sarah Tyminski and wounded his son, Chris Lamb, 35, on June 17, 2019, in a custody dispute over his son's children.

A witness told investigators that the son and father had been arguing on the phone that day about Rickey Lamb's refusal to let his son and Tyminski have their two daughters, ages 11 and 6, over for a visit that weekend.

The couple had signed custody of the girls over to Chris Lamb's parents in a tribal court arrangement but were allowed to have them over for visits on weekends.

His father's refusal to let them have the girls that weekend had irritated Chris Lamb to the point that he threatened during their conversation on the phone to take the girls back and never let his parents see them again.

Rickey Lamb told investigators that he went to the home of his son and Tyminski on Eloise Lane south of Joplin armed with a .30-06 rifle intending to do nothing more than scare his son out of ever attempting to carry out that threat.

The father's and son's accounts to law enforcement of what happened when Rickey Lamb drove up to their home differed starkly.

Ricky Lamb claimed his son fired a shotgun at him from behind a tree as he pulled into their driveway and that he shot back, wounding his son and causing him to drop the shotgun. He claimed he shot Tyminski when she reached for the shotgun.

The son told investigators that he was inside the house and Tyminski outside when his father pulled up. He said he heard Tyminski greet his father and then heard gunshots. He said he ran outside, spotted Tyminski on the ground and tried to pull her to safety behind a tree. As he did, Chris Lamb recounted, he was shot in the arm.

The son said that caused him to run back inside and retrieve a .22-caliber rifle, which he carried back outside, where he ducked for cover behind a tree. He later told an investigator at the hospital that he shot just once at his father with the rifle and never fired any shotgun.

The son testified at a preliminary hearing in October 2019 that he was shot in his chest as well as his arm, although the father claimed he fired just two shots. The father was treated for a wound to his shoulder believed to have been caused by a shotgun.

According to testimony at the hearing in 2019, investigators recovered a .22-caliber rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun at the scene, along with five spent .22-caliber bullet casings and two spent shotgun shells.

Prosecutor Will Lynch said in a news release that the plea arrangement carries no agreed-upon length of sentence, meaning the judge will have the discretion to assess Rickey Lamb any length of term within the punishment range prescribed for second-degree murder.

Lynch said the outcome of the case offers "closure and some amount of justice to the family of Sarah Tyminski."

"After full discovery was completed in this case, considering the availability of some witnesses and the risk associated with a jury trial, this is a just and certain outcome," Lynch said.

He said the prosecution has not been able to reach the son, who currently has a warrant out for his arrest, complicating efforts to secure his testimony as a witness at trial, Lynch told the Globe.