A St. Louis County man tried to kill his own mother by having her cousin slip fentanyl or heroin-laced cocaine into her drugs, and when that failed, he had her shot and dumped in a city alley instead, according to federal prosecutors. Three people have now pleaded guilty in the plot, which authorities say was set in motion years earlier by a $150,000 life insurance policy.
A Years-Long Plan Turns Deadly
Andrew Hubbard, 40, of Maryland Heights pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and one count of murder-for-hire, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2019, Hubbard applied for a $150,000 life insurance policy on his mother, 53-year-old Andreaia Worthem. By June 2023, according to federal authorities, Hubbard had decided to collect on that policy by having his mother killed.
Hubbard's original plan called for cocaine base spiked with a lethal dose of heroin or fentanyl, not a shooting. He promised co-defendant Kim Mosley, 33, $50,000 if the plan succeeded, and he asked his cousin, 47-year-old Eric Washington of Jennings, to actually deliver the poisoned drugs to Worthem. Washington agreed to provide the spiked cocaine for $10,000. Washington had recently overdosed, and Hubbard asked him to deliver the drugs.
The Poisoning Failed, So Washington Pulled the Trigger
Washington picked up Worthem from her St. Louis County home on July 6, 2023, and drove her into St. Louis city, per the Justice Department's account. A cousin called to say “It's done,” per the same federal account. But the poisoned drugs didn't kill her — so Washington shot Worthem instead, later telling Hubbard he did it because the drugs did not work, per the same federal account.
He left her body in an alley in the 4400 block of Kennerly, according to court documents obtained via GovInfo. She had died from gunshot wounds to her chest, arm and face. Officers found her the following morning, July 7, 2023, according to KMOV.
Cover-Up Attempts and a Sold Phone
In the hours after the killing, the conspirators scrambled to cover their tracks. Mosley paid $200 for Worthem's phone on July 7, 2023, and the device was destroyed after the purchase, KMOV reports. Washington hid the car used to pick up Worthem, and Mosley and Hubbard later followed him to Illinois to return it before giving him a ride back to St. Louis, according to the station's report.
Hubbard eventually paid Washington $450 along with cocaine and marijuana as payment for the killing, per the same account. Washington later called the insurance company himself to ask about the money, telling them he had “done some work for Hubbard” and that Hubbard owed him money — a call that helped investigators piece together the conspiracy.
Digital Forensics Cracked the Case
Investigators used cellphone and cell tower records in the case, according to KSDK. Phone records showed Worthem had communicated with her son and nephew shortly before her death.
Washington and Mosley both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire resulting in personal injury, according to KMOV.
Sentencing Dates and an Unresolved Fourth Defendant
Under federal statute 18 U.S.C. § 1958, a murder-for-hire offense that results in death carries a statutory sentence of mandatory life imprisonment or the death penalty, per the Justice Department.
Washington is scheduled to be sentenced on October 21, Hubbard on December 1, and Mosley on January 20, 2027, KMOV reports. A federal grand jury also indicted a fourth co-defendant, Justin R. Lee of Northwoods, on charges of murder-for-hire and conspiracy in connection with Worthem's death, according to court documents filed with GovInfo. Lee had filed pretrial motions seeking a separate trial before his co-defendants entered their guilty pleas.
The case echoes another high-profile federal murder-for-hire prosecution out of St. Louis that drew national TV attention earlier this year, involving a former principal and a hired gunman.
