After getting arrested for fatally shooting her mother and attempting to kill her stepfather, Carly Gregg was sentenced to life in prison after a Rankin County jury found her guilty of all charges - murder, attempted murder, and evidence tampering. The sentence was handed down on Friday, September 20 to the 15-year-old. She committed the crimes when she was 14 back on March 19, 2024.
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Video evidence played during the week-long trial showed how Gregg carried out the murder of her mother, Ashley Smylie (40). Footage from their Brandon, Mississippi home's kitchen shows Gregg hiding a gun behind her back. Moments later, she enters the bedroom where Smylie was located at the time and fatally shoots her three times off camera.
She then returns to the kitchen and starts fiddling with a cell phone. Prosecutors alleged that Gregg used Ashely's phone to contact and lure Heath to murder him as well. Gregg also invited a friend over to see the dead body. Once Heath arrived, Gregg attempted to murder him by shooting him in the shoulder. A struggle proceeded, with Gregg fleeing the scene afterward.
"The gun flashed in my face. It went off two more times, but my hand was on the gun after the first shot, and I twisted it from Carly," Heath testified, according to Clarion Ledger. He added regarding Gregg: "It was like she had seen a demon or something, and my first thought was, there was an intruder somewhere, and she thought she was after somebody else."
How The Trial Went Down
The defense team attempted an insanity defense by alleging that Gregg was experiencing a mental health crisis. Dr. Andrew Clark - Gregg's child psychologist - was key to this defense. He testified that Gregg had been struggling with depression and even auditory hallucinations. These conditions were allegedly worsened by medication taken by Gregg.
However, Assistant District Attorney Michael Smith rebutted this claim during cross-examination. He asked Dr. Clark: "You agree that Carly tried to cover up the crime, right?" Clark answered "Yes." This led to Smith asking: "If you try and cover up a crime, doesn't that indicate that you know what you did?" This refers to the fact that Gregg attempted to hide the camera that recorded the event.
Assistant District Attorney Katherin Newman said the following: "This was not the result of an uncontrollable mental breakdown. This was calculated, and Carly knew exactly what she was doing."
The jury deliberated for two hours before reaching a guilty verdict. The same jury deliberated for one hour on Gregg's sentencing. She received a sentence of life in prison followed by 10 years for tampering with evidence. She previously turned down a plea deal that would have sent her to prison for 40 years. While hearing her sentence, Gregg broke down in tears.
