MORRISON, Ill. — Editor's note: The video above aired Oct. 5, 2018.
After murdering her mother in 2017, Anna Schroeder recruited her girlfriend Rachel Helm to help hide the body. It wasn't until Wednesday - nearly four years later - that Helm pleaded guilty and was sentenced for her crimes.
Helm, 20, was convicted on charges of arson and concealment of a homicidal death for her role. On Wednesday, a Whiteside County Judge sentenced her to 11 years and six months in prison with credit for time already served and a year of supervision upon release.
On July 6, 2017, Schroeder told her mother, Peggy, she had a surprise for her when got home from work and asked her to put a towel over her face before shooting her in the head with her own gun.
Schroeder texted Helm about what had happened, and Helm came to the house on West Park Street to help deal with the body. The then-15-year-olds spent most of the night attempting to clean blood from the carpet, and they decided to set the house on fire the next morning and flee.
Neighbors caught onto the fire pretty quickly, and both teens admitted what they'd done out of guilt. They were then placed in a Galesburg juvenile detention center and have been incarcerated ever since.
LISTEN: ‘Missing and Murdered in the Midwest’ Episode 8: Peggy Schroeder
In November, Schroeder was sentenced to 20 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections with credit for time served after a plea agreement brought charges down from first-degree to second-degree murder.