Carly Gregg is a teen killer from Mississippi who would murder her mother Ashley Smylie and attempted to murder her stepfather Heath Smylie.
According to court documents Carly Gregg would fatally shoot her mother Ashley Smylie. The teen killer would then call a friend to come over and view the dead body
When the friend was standing outside of the home she would hear several gunshots as Carly Gregg attempted to murder her stepfather Heath Smylie. However Smylie would be able to survive the attack and called 911 who would arrest the fourteen year old girl a short distance away
Carly Gregg would be arrested and charged with murder and attempted murder
Prosecutors would offer the teen killer a forty year prison sentence if she plead guilty to the murder and attempted murder charges however the offer was turned down
Carly Gregg would go to trial in September 2024 and after a four day trial she would be found guilty of murder and attempted murder. When the teen is sentenced she faces life in prison
Carly lawyers attempted to put forward a defense that the teen was responsible for the murder of Ashley Smylie and the attempted murder of Heath Smylie however she was mentally ill at the time. The jurors would quickly dismiss the notion and would find the now fifteen year old guilty
- Update – Carly Gregg would be sentenced to two life sentences plus an additional 10 years for the tampering with evidence conviction
Carly Gregg Case
Carly Gregg has been found guilty.
She was found guilty on all three counts:
- First-degree murder
- Attempted murder
- Tampering with evidence
This following a dramatic week-long trial revolving around the 15-year-old Gregg, who shot and killed her mother, Ashley Smylie, in March of this year.
Smylie, 40, was a teacher at Northwest Rankin High School when she died at the hands of her daughter, Gregg, then 14 years old.
The trial, as Gregg’s defense stated on Monday, was not a “whodunit,” as video played in court proved the shooter to be Carly.
Rather, the trial centered around Gregg’s mental state when the shooting took place.
The State and defense brought many witnesses to the stand during the 5-day trial, including Gregg’s step-father, Heath Smylie, who was also shot by Gregg.
Heath was shot in the shoulder by the .357 Magnum, which he gifted to his then-wife, Ashley Smylie.
Heath maintained his support for Carly throughout the trial, even, at one point, mouthing “I love you” to her.
he strategy of Carly’s attorneys was to prove not guilty by reason of insanity. A psychiatrist brought in by the defense concluded that Carly suffers from bipolar disorder.
The State, however, claimed that Carly did not meet the M’naghten rule – meaning she did not meet the requirements to be deemed criminally insane.
The State’s expert witness, Dr. Jason Pickett, a forensic psychologist, claimed that Carly was not insane when she shot her mother, and was aware of the harm her actions would cause.
Additionally, he stated that Carly had narcistic tendencies, calling her actions “diabolical.”
https://www.wlbt.com/2024/09/20/carly-gregg-found-guilty-after-dramatic-week-long-trial
Carly Gregg News
After prosecutors told Mississippi jurors that Carly Gregg knew right from wrong when, at the age of 14, she shot her mom in the face at home and then lured her stepfather to the residence and shot him in the shoulder, the jury swiftly agreed Friday that the teen, tried as an adult, committed first-degree murder, attempted murder, and evidence tampering.
Gregg, now 15, could face two life sentences behind bars after electing to roll the dice at trial on her insanity defense and turning down the state’s plea offer of a 40-year punishment.
On the afternoon of March 19, Gregg shot Ashley Smylie, a 40-year-old math teacher in Rankin County, multiple times at their Brandon home. The shooting unfolded in Gregg’s bedroom after Smylie discovered boxes of vape pens there, which prosecutors said were telltale signs of the teen’s “secret life.” That life, the state alleged, involved “burner phones,” vapes containing marijuana, and a history of cheating at school and self-harm by cutting herself.
Kitchen video from the crime scene played during the trial showed Gregg hiding a gun behind her back as she walked in front of the camera and towards her bedroom. Moments later, that sounds of three gunshots and Smylie’s screams were heard.
Rather than panicking, Gregg reacted calmly and put into motion her next attack, texting on a phone as she sat on a stool in the kitchen while her two dogs hovered below her.
Prosecutors said Gregg used her mother’s phone to lure stepdad Heath Smylie to the house by texting “When will you be home honey?” and that she later shot him in the shoulder, before the man wrested the gun away from her. Prosecutors further said Gregg texted one of her own friends to come over to the house claiming that there was an “emergency.”
Once the friend arrived, Gregg allegedly asked “if she had ever seen a dead body before” before leading the witness to the victim’s body and saying her stepfather was next.
Gregg’s stepdad took the witness stand and testified about the moment he was ambushed upon arriving home.
“When I opened the door to the kitchen, the gun went off in my face before the door was three or four inches wide open,” Smylie said. “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.”
He recalled Gregg looked as if “she had seen a demon or something” that day and maybe didn’t even recognize him.
The defense was clear from the start that it wasn’t disputing that Gregg shot the Smylies. Rather, the defense maintained Gregg was not sane when she did so, emphasizing, for example, that Gregg has heard voices, had started taking the anxiety and depression medication Lexapro, switching from a different medication, just one week before Ashley Smylie’s death.
On Friday, defense attorney Bridget Todd insisted that Gregg “was a kid who was experiencing significant mental health issues” when she killed her mother, issues that “ran in her family that we know are hereditary.”
“This is a kid who was compliant with the medication she was put on, however, that medication without them being able to tell beforehand, caused her symptoms to worsen. And while she was having a state of psychosis in an episode of acute stress on March 19, she lost herself in what was the perfect storm,” Todd said during closing arguments.
The stated countered that Gregg’s tampering with video footage after the fact, her calculated luring of her stepdad into an ambush, and her decision to flee from the scene supported that she had clear “intent to kill,” that she was in control of her actions, and that she knew what she did was wrong.
“We would ask that you go back there and find her guilty of all three because she was not insane at the time that this happened,” prosecutor Michael Smith said. “She knew exactly what she was doing, and she knew the difference between right and wrong.”
Jurors began deliberating before noon on Friday and a verdict was in two hours later.
In stark contrast to how she reacted after the shooting, Carly Gregg appeared to be crying just before Judge Dewey Arthur warned those in attendance in the courtroom against any outbursts upon hearing the outcome.
The courtroom was silent as the judge confirmed she was found guilty of all three charges.
Carly Gregg held her head in her hands and appeared stunned by the quick convictions.
From there, the judge kicked off the sentencing phase. The defense called no witnesses and said it was resting its case as to sentencing.
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MDOC ID Number: 252702
| Race: WHITE | Sex: FEMALE | Date of Birth: 04/23/2009 |
| Height: 5′ 2” | Weight: 110 | Complexion: FAIR |
| Build: MEDIUM | Eye Color: GREY | Hair Color: BROWN |
| Entry Date: 09/24/2024 | Location: YOUTHFUL OFFENDER FACILITY | UNIT: YOU |
| Location Change Date: 09/24/2024 | Number of Sentences: 3 | Total Length: LIFE |
