A 15-year-old girl from Mississippi will spend the rest of her life behind bars after a jury found her guilty of murde*ring her mother.
Carly Madison Gregg learned her fate on Friday, marking about six months after she was charged with killing 40 year-old Ashley Smylie, as well as seriously hurting her step-father, Heath Smylie, during two separate shootings at their Brandon, Miss., home in March.
The girl, who was 14 at the time of the homicide, was also sentenced to serve 10 years in prison for tampering with evidence.
Rankin County Investigator Zachary Cotton previously testified at a pre-trial hearing, saying dispatchers received a call from a man, later identified as Health Smiley, who said his child had shot him and his wife on March 19.
The person on the phone was frantic,” Cotton said at the time.
Cotton said deputies responded to the scene, where they found an injured man at the door and a dead woman inside a bedroom. He said the man had been shot in the shoulder, with the man telling deputies his step-daughter shot him and killed his wife.
The investigator said Carly was later found about a half mile away from the house and taken into custody.
Cotton detailed scenes from two security cameras found at the family’s home, noting that Carly is seen walking into her mother’s bedroom before a gunshot is heard, followed by a scream and two more gunshots. He said Ashley Smylie was shot twice in the face and once in the chin.
The footage also shows Carly hiding something behind her back — which Cotton believes is a gun. He said Carley then texts her step-father, who was not home yet, asking when he would be at the house.
Cotton said it was about 45 minutes to 50 minutes before Heath arrived at the scene.
In the meantime, he said Carly texted a friend, asking her to come over and saying it was an emergency. He said she then showed her friend her mother’s corpse.
Carly asked her if she had ever seen a dead body before,” Cotton said. “She said no. She proceeded to show her deceased mother, who was in the bedroom, (and) showed the gun that she used to shoot her mom. (She) told (the friend) she had three shots for her mom and that she’s got three more for her step-dad — two to the head, one to the chest.”
Heath told investigators he was shot as soon as he walked into the house, said Cotton, noting that Health said Carly’s “eyes were really big” and “it looked like she had seen a demon.” Health told investigators Carly was screaming and then ran off.
The friend was outside in the backyard when the second shooting took place, Cotton said.
Cotton said investigators learned Carly had been on prescription medications, including Lexapro, leading up to the mur*der. He added Carley allegedly changed the medication she was taking about a week before the shootings.
