Carly Madison Gregg, 15, was convicted of killing her mum and attacking her stepfather in a chilling assault captured on surveillance video in Mississippi
An “evil” 15-year-old girl murdered her mother before playing with her dogs beside the corpse – and then attempted to kill her stepfather.
Carly Madison Gregg’s heinous acts were captured in harrowing CCTV footage from her family home.
During five days of shocking evidence, jurors witnessed Gregg hiding a weapon behind her back while pacing through her Mississippi home, reports ABC news.
The crack of gunfire echoed through the recording. Prosecutors stated she shot her mother, Ashley Smylie, in the face on March 19, 2024. Smylie was a 40-year-old secondary school maths teacher.
Prosecutors claimed her appalling attack began after a mate informed Gregg’s mum about the teenager’s cannabis consumption. Gregg’s legal team maintained she was experiencing a mental health breakdown, reports the Mirror US.
Following the shooting of her mum, Gregg is captured returning to the kitchen as though nothing had happened. Gregg is then filmed messaging on her mobile and frolicking with her pet dogs.
When her stepfather, Heath Smylie, returned home Gregg launched her attack on him as well – firing a bullet in his direction.
He succeeded in wresting the firearm from his stepdaughter and placed a frantic emergency call. “She killed her mom,” he can be heard telling operators.
His heartbreaking 999 call was also broadcast to jurors. Heath Smylie testified that the “gun went off in my face before the door was open.”
The 15-year-old wept in court on hearing her sentence.
She was condemned to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. “Carly Gregg is evil and that’s not easy to say, but the truth of the matter is that sometimes evil comes in young packages,” said Rankin County District Attorney Bubba Bramlett.
“She doesn’t know what was going on at that time. We’re asking you to find her not guilty by reason of insanity,” Gregg’s defence solicitor Kevin Camp implored the jury before their verdict.
“I put three in my mom and I got three – I got three more waiting for my stepdad,” state prosecutor Kathryn Newman reenacted. “You think that sound like an insane person? No.”
After just two hours of deliberations, the jury found Gregg guilty on all counts. The defence announced their intention to appeal.
In September, Gregg’s lawyer James Murphy, who spoke to the Clarion Ledger about “mistakes” which resulted in an “unjust outcome” in Gregg’s “unfair” murder trial, lodged an appeal.
Gregg’s legal team argued the case went to trial on an “exceptionally compressed schedule and under a series of statutory and constitutional errors that tainted both sentencing and the overall fairness of the proceedings.
“Carly was indicted barely two months after the incident and brought to trial within six months-effectively a ‘rocket docket,’” the brief stated.
“In a case of this magnitude requiring collection and review of extensive medical and mental-health records, multiple evaluations, substantial family/background history, and a disputed motive-such acceleration is extraordinary in Mississippi criminal practice.”
Gregg’s legal team has petitioned for oral arguments before the state’s supreme court, hoping to overturn her conviction and sentences or return the matter to the lower court for fresh proceedings and sentencing.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login