John Jefferson
Left: Carly Gregg in court on Sept. 20, 2024 (Law&Crime). Center: Ashley Smylie (Northwest Rankin High School). Right: Gregg hiding a gun behind her back before shooting her mother on March 19, 2024 (Law&Crime).
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, was well aware that she could face potential 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.
Hours after finding Gregg guilty, the jury determined that life in prison was the appropriate sentence.
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, 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.
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.
Prosecutors got straight to the point asked for life in prison without parole for the murder and attempted murder of the Smylies, saying that although Gregg “may look like a little girl,” the evidence has shown she is “dangerous” and should never be released back into local shopping malls, theaters, schools, or society in general.
“What’s to say it won’t happen again?” asked prosecutor Kathryn White Newman.
The defense, on the other hand, insisted that Gregg “can come out of this at some point” and that locking her up for life would worsen things for her family.
“Please, let the judge make the sentence in this case,” urged Kevin Kemp, one of Gregg’s defense lawyers.
Thereafter, the jury was sent out to deliberate in the penalty phase.
Just after 3 p.m. EST, the judge read the jury’s verdict of life in prison and clarified that the life sentences would run concurrently.
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