PINEVILLE, Mo. – A Joplin man pleads guilty to the 2019 murder of his son’s longtime girlfriend.
(Previous articles: Loved ones hold celebration of life to remember Sarah Tyminski, Family of fatal shooting victim speaks about their loved one)
Rickey Lee Lamb, 63, of Joplin, Missouri entered the plea in front of Judge Kevin Selby of the 40th Judicial Circuit in Newton County on Thursday, April 15, 2021, to Murder in the Second Degree.
The court dismissed counts of Domestic Assault First and Armed Criminal Action.
On June 17, 2019, Rickey Lamb went to the residence of his son and his son’s girlfriend Sarah Tyminski on Eloise Lane just south of Joplin. According to the defendant’s own statements, included in the probable cause document filed with the case, Lamb went to the home to scare his son over a custody dispute over his son’s children. At the residence, a firefight ensued, and Rickey Lamb admitted to shooting Sarah Tyminski, telling detectives he believed she was trying to get a weapon. EMT’s pronounced Sarah Tyminski dead at the scene.
“This plea will offer closure and some amount of justice to the family of Sarah Tyminski,” said Newton County Prosecuting Attorney William Lynch. “The decision to proceed as we have is not
one I take lightly. 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
stated that the defendant taking responsibility for his actions and the plea limiting the scope of the defendant’s appeals were important factors in his decision.
A sentencing hearing is set for June 17, 2021. At that hearing, the state and defense will have the opportunity to make argument as to what sentence the defendant should receive. The range of
sentencing for the A felony of Murder in the Second Degree is 10 to 30 years, or life, in the Missouri Department of Corrections. No plea agreement was made limiting the range of punishment the
judge can consider.
The case was investigated by the Newton County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by William Lynch, J.D. Hatcher, and Sarah Crites, of the Newton County Prosecutor’s Office