Carly Gregg, the Mississippi teen who shot her mother dead and wounded her stepfather, wept Friday as she was was found guilty of the ruthless shootings.
The 15-year-old may spend the rest of her life in prison after being convicted on all charges, which included first-degree murder, attempted murder and tampering with evidence.
The jury deliberated for two hours after watching home surveillance footage that shows Gregg, with a handgun tucked behind her back, darting into her mother Ashley Smylie’s room. Moments later, three shots could be heard, followed by a scream.
Immediately after killing her mother, Gregg grabbed her mother’s phone and sent several messages to her stepfather, Heath Smylie, in what prosecutors allege was an attempt to lure him home.
“When will you be home honey?” one of the texts read.
When he arrived home, Gregg shot him in the shoulder before he wrestled the gun away from her.
The shootings came hours after a friend tipped Gregg’s parents off about her marijuana usage. By the time she arrived home from school, her mother had discovered Gregg’s stash of vape pens.
The teen’s defense team argued an insanity defense, with a psychiatrist testifying that she was undergoing a mental health crisis on the day of the shooting. Dr. Andrew Clark said that she was hearing voices and experiencing dissociation.
“And then, her mother finds out she’s smoking marijuana,” Clark said in court. “For Carly, in particular, she so cared about her mother’s approval, so for her, this was a crisis.”
Gregg’s stepfather, Heath, also testified on her behalf, describing her as a “sweet little girl” who wasn’t herself that day.
“I do not believe she even recognized me,” he said, adding that the two still talk daily.
Gregg faces life in prison without the possibility of parole for her mother’s murder, and 30 years on the other charges.
