Fifteen-year-old Carly Gregg was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of murdering her mother and attempting to kill her stepfather. The verdict, delivered by a jury today, followed a swift two-hour deliberation. Though Gregg cried upon hearing the guilty verdict, she smiled when her sentence was announced. The teen was also handed an additional 10-year sentence for tampering with evidence after destroying a security camera following her mother’s murder.

A heinous crime

On March 19, Gregg shot and killed her mother, Ashley, in their Mississippi home. After the killing, she attempted to lure her stepfather by sending him a text message. According to prosecutors, she intended to murder him as well. The jury’s swift decision came despite Gregg’s defense team arguing that she was mentally ill and should not be held responsible due to insanity. The court ultimately rejected this defence.

Life without parole

Prosecutor Katherine Newman pushed for the harshest sentence. “Ladies and gentlemen, she is dangerous. She may look like a little girl, they may have said she is sweet little Carly, but unfortunately, that is not true,” Newman said during her closing argument. “We ask you sentence Ms. Gregg to life in prison without the possibility of parole.” Gregg was initially offered a plea deal of 40 years, but the prosecution later withdrew the offer. The jury took only 30 minutes to decide her sentence.

A shocking defense

Throughout the trial, Gregg’s defence maintained that she had been tormented by voices in her head and suffered from severe mental health issues, which led her to dissociate during the murder. Her lawyers argued that she loved her mother and stepfather and that her actions were entirely out of character. Despite these claims, the court sided with the prosecution, finding Gregg guilty of all charges. In a surprising show of support, Gregg’s grandparents and even her stepfather—whom she had attempted to kill—attended the trial and expressed shock at the outcome.

Chilling footage reveals Gregg’s calm after the crime

Video footage presented during the trial showed Gregg wandering around the family kitchen after the murder. As gunshots rang out in the background, she calmly sat down as though nothing had happened, a detail that prosecutors pointed to as evidence of her cold-blooded nature. Prosecutors revealed that Gregg’s mother had been searching for drugs in her daughter’s room, after being alerted by one of Gregg’s friends that the teen had been smoking marijuana. This harrowing case highlights the tragic and unsettling nature of familial violence, with a young girl now facing life behind bars.