MANSFIELD, La. -- Sunflowers are popping up all over Facebook in memory of a Mansfield woman killed Monday during an armed robbery where she worked.
Many friends and family members have changed their Facebook profiles or shared images of sunflowers for Lynda Palmer, who was known for her love of flowers, especially sunflowers. She and her late husband, Joe Palmer, would plant a row every summer in his garden.
Funeral visitation for the Palmer family will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Rose-Neath Funeral Home in Mansfield. The funeral service is at 1 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home.
"She loved jewelry and making people happy. Her accolades won her many quota-based trips including one to the Bahamas in which she enjoyed thoroughly. She never met a stranger and would give the shirt off her back to anyone. She loved her family, and her grandbabies were the light of her life. She lost her husband, Joe Douglas Palmer, not long ago but continued to work, thrive, prosper and serve the community," reads her obituary.
Palmer, 75, was shot multiple times early Monday morning while she worked the front desk of the Best Western Plus DeSoto Inn & Suites. Terry Dewayne Powell, 19, of Mansfield has been charged with second-degree murder in Palmer's death.
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Powell is also charged with attempted second-degree murder in the shooting of Matthew Yeager, of Texas, who was a motel guest.
Additional counts of armed robbery were added later this week following more investigation by the Mansfield Police Department and DeSoto Parish Sheriff's Office.
Investigators said Powell robbed Palmer of an undisclosed amount of cash and shot her. Powell left the motel, located on Jenkins Street, but returned, where he encountered Yeager outside.
Both went inside, where Powell attempted to rob Yeager before shooting him, investigators said.
Yeager remains hospitalized in Shreveport following surgeries for multiple gunshot wounds. His condition, however, has improved.
Yeager works for Halliburton and a number of employees were staying at the motel because of their work in the area.
Surveillance cameras at the hotel helped investigators quickly identify Powell as the alleged shooter. DPSO SWAT and Mansfield police were on Powell's trail and at one point thought they had him surrounded in a building on School Board property. But it wasn't much longer after that when citizens' tips led them to adjacent property where Powell was hiding in an abandoned apartment on Kennedy Street. He was arrested without incident.
Powell was initially booked into the DeSoto Parish Detention Center but then moved to Caddo Correctional Center, where he is held without bond.
Palmer is the city's first homicide victim this year.
