On March 19, 2024, Ashley Nicole Smylie, a 40-year-old female teacher, was shot and killed in her home in Brandon, Mississippi. The tragic event unfolded after a confrontation with her 14-year-old daughter, Carly Madison Gregg, regarding the discovery of vape pens in the teenager's room. The discovery was preceded by a friend of Carly's informing Ashley about her daughter's alleged marijuana use.
Following the argument, Carly retrieved her mother's.
357 Magnum handgun from her parents' bedroom. Security camera footage from the kitchen captured the moments leading up to the shooting, showing the teen walking with a hand concealed behind her back. Soon after, the sound of three gunshots and screaming could be heard. Ashley Smylie sustained fatal gunshot wounds to her head and was found deceased in her daughter's bedroom. After the shooting, Carly texted a friend, asking her to come over and then chillingly asked if she had ever seen a dead body before showing her mother's body.
Later that day, when her stepfather, Heath Smylie, arrived home, Carly ambushed him, firing several shots and striking him in the shoulder. Despite his injuries, Heath managed to disarm his stepdaughter, who then fled the residence. After finding his wife's body, he called 911. Law enforcement apprehended Carly about half a mile from the home.
Carly Madison Gregg was arrested and charged with first-degree murder for the death of her mother, attempted murder for the shooting of her stepfather, and tampering with evidence for hiding a home security camera. She was tried as an adult. During the trial, her defense team argued that she was not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming she was suffering from an improperly treated mental illness and was hearing voices, possibly exacerbated by a recent change in medication.
The prosecution contended that Carly knew what she was doing and that her actions were premeditated. In September 2024, after a five-day trial and about two hours of deliberation, a Rankin County jury found Carly Gregg guilty on all charges. She was subsequently sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murder and attempted murder charges, with a concurrent ten-year sentence for tampering with evidence.
