Mississippi teenage killer Carly Gregg sobbed in court docket Friday as she was discovered responsible of ruthlessly gunning down her mom and wounding her stepfather after they discovered about her “secret life” with medication earlier this 12 months.
The 15-year-old sobbed as she was discovered responsible on all expenses together with first-degree homicide, tried homicide and tampering with proof. She is going to spend the remainder of her life in jail with out parole.
The decision got here after the jury considered chilling surveillance video of the baby-face teen awkwardly shuffling round their Brandon house — clutching a gun behind her again shortly earlier than she shot her mom Ashley Smylie, 40, a math trainer at Northwest Rankin Excessive College, within the face.
The jury deliberated for about two hours earlier than handing down their verdict.
Gregg, who was 14 on the time of the killing, was additionally on trial for taking pictures her stepdad, Heath Smylie, of their Brandon, Miss., house on March 19 after the couple discovered of her “secret life” with medication.
Within the alarming surveillance footage, Gregg, sporting a Nirvana band shirt, was filmed disappearing off digicam into her mom’s bed room simply seconds earlier than three pictures rang out — adopted by Smylie’s piercing screams, in accordance with the clip obtained by Legislation & Crime.
The teenager then returned to the kitchen roughly 10 seconds later, nonetheless clutching the weapon behind her again.
Prosecutors stated Gregg confronted the digicam the entire time in a bid to cover the weapon, which was later recognized as a .357 Magnum handgun.
As soon as she was again in view of the digicam, Gregg might be seen grabbing her mother’s cellphone off the kitchen counter and calmly taking a seat on a stool as her two canine stood beside her.
Prosecutors allege Gregg then casually fired off a number of texts — together with one to her stepdad to lure him to the house.
“When will you be house honey?” the textual content despatched to Heath allegedly learn.
When Heath returned to the house a short while later, Gregg shot him within the shoulder earlier than he was in a position to wrestle the gun away from her, the court docket heard.
Prosecutors stated the teenager had additionally allegedly texted a buddy asking her to return over as a result of there was an “emergency.”
“Have you ever ever seen a useless physique? My mother is in there,” the buddy claimed Gregg requested her when she arrived on the house.
Gregg carried out the shootings simply hours after a buddy had apparently tipped off her mother in regards to the teen’s marijuana use.
When the pair returned house from college that day, the mother began looking out Gregg’s room and found a stash of vape pens, the court docket heard.
“From the testimony of a buddy, he was so nervous about Carly’s use of smoking marijuana, so nervous about her being excessive, and so nervous about her having these burner telephones, that [Carly’s] mother didn’t find out about, that he felt compelled to inform Miss Ashley Smylie that day,” Rankin County Assistant District Lawyer Kathryn Newman stated earlier within the trial.
Gregg turned down a plea deal and was pursuing an madness protection, with psychiatrist Dr. Andrew Clark testifying on Thursday that the teenager was dealing with a psychological well being disaster the day of the taking pictures.
He stated the teenager was having vital temper swings, listening to voices and having dissociative issues, which have been made worse by her drugs.
“After which, her mom finds out she’s smoking marijuana,” Clark advised the court docket. “For Carly, specifically, she so cared about her mom’s approval, so for her, this was a disaster.”
In the meantime, Gregg’s stepfather testified Tuesday that the teenager — who he described as a “candy little lady” — had no recollection of the taking pictures.
“I by no means seen anyone like that, even in motion pictures, she was not herself and I don’t consider she even acknowledged me,” Heath stated, including that he and Gregg nonetheless speak day by day and their relationship is “good.”
The teenager faces as much as life in jail for the homicide cost, plus 30 years to life for the opposite expenses.
Supply hyperlink
