Before a Mississippi teenager was found guilty of fatally shooting her mother and shooting her stepfather in an attempt to kill him, jurors heard a frightening 911 call made by the surviving victim.
Carly Gregg was 14 at the time of the March 19 shooting, in which prosecutors argued she killed her 40-year-old mother, Ashley Smylie, with the mother’s gun inside the family’s Brandon, Miss., home, according toThe Clarion Ledger, WLBT, and WJTV.
Prosecutors said Gregg went straight into her parents’ bedroom to retrieve a .357 Magnum pistol from beneath their mattress, according to video from the courtroom shared by Court TV.
Hiding the gun behind her back, Gregg went to her own bedroom and confronted her mother, fatally shooting her three times, Mississippi state prosecutor Kathryn White Newman said, according to The Clarion Ledger, WLBT, and WJTV.
Newman told the courtroom that moments before the woman was killed, Gregg’s mother was searching her daughter’s bedroom for vape pens, WLBT also reported.
Later, the teenager lied in wait in an apparent ambush designed to shoot and kill her stepfather, 39-year-old Heath Smylie, when he arrived home, prosecutors said, per the outlets.
The investigation found that the teen was messaging her stepfather asking when he would be home after shooting her mother, Rankin County investigator Zachary Cotton said at a preliminary hearing in April.
Heath testified during the trial that the “gun went off in my face before the door was open,” referring to when he arrived home, per ABC7. After wrestling the gun away from Gregg, he called 911. “She killed her mom,” he reportedly said in the call.
According to The Clarion-Ledger, the stepfather can also be heard letting out cries as he claims to have found Ashley’s body. The outlet reported that Gregg appeared emotional and had her head down with her hands placed over her eyes while the call was played in the courtroom.
Gregg fled the scene after the shooting, but was later arrested near the home, authorities said.
While Gregg’s defense team did not deny she killed her mother, the attorneys contended that the teenager was experiencing a mental health crisis on the day of the killing and didn’t remember the shooting.
Dr. Andrew Clark, a child psychologist, testified during the trial that Gregg dealt with symptoms of depression and was previously prescribed medication that made her feel numb, The Clarion-Ledger reported. Clark also told the court that Gregg heard voices, which were “getting worse” prior to the shooting and that she had a history of self-harm.
Gregg, now 15, was sentenced to life in prison after she was found guilty on all counts including first-degree murder, attempted murder and tampering with evidence, according to The Clarion-Ledger,WAPT, and WLBT.
