In the murder trial of Carly Madison Gregg on Wednesday, the defense rested its case while the defendant rested her eyes.
Carly Madison Gregg, a Mississippi teenager on trial for the murder of her mother and attempted murder of her stepfather, was spotted in court on Wednesday appearing to have fallen asleep during witness testimonies.
#CarlyGregg #AshleySmylie #CarlyGreggTrial
DEFENSE HAS RESTED‼️ pic.twitter.com/HEOK41mSmI
— Adriienne F (@imadriienne) September 18, 2024
#CarlyGregg #AshleySmylie #CarlyGreggTrial
Carly very tired & sleepy in court….. pic.twitter.com/6UAnl6RzOj
— Adriienne F (@imadriienne) September 18, 2024
Gregg is being tried as an adult after allegedly murdering her mother and attempting to kill her stepfather when she was 14 years old back on March 19. The trial is not centered around whether Gregg took the life of her mother, Ashley Smylie, but whether the now-15-year-old is culpable based on her sanity or lack thereof.
A long day of proceedings on Wednesday, in which the defense presented its case to a Rankin County jury, included witness testimony from law enforcement officers, Gregg’s stepfather Heath Smylie, and an expert witness testimony from a child psychiatrist who had treated the defendant. Dr. Andrew Clark spent a long stretch of the afternoon detailing Gregg’s medication changes, past trauma, and how it all may have contributed to her fatally shooting her mother and attempting to murder her stepfather.
Dr. Clark said on the stand that he diagnosed Gregg with Bipolar II Disorder and that prescribed antidepressants may have resulted in a worse mental state for the teen. Gregg’s defense team leaned on Clark’s testimony to imply that Gregg’s mental state was unstable due to medicinal changes, resulting in her hearing voices and experiencing intense mood swings around the time she committed the murder.
But Clark also noted that he couldn’t provide an expert opinion one way or another on whether Gregg was officially “insane” during the incident. Much of the defense’s insanity plea leans on Gregg possibly lacking control of her actions during the shootings, along with her not remembering the events. However, Clark explained that the home security video of the incident is troubling.
“One problem is, you know, when I saw the video of the kitchen at 4:10 in the afternoon, you hear the shot. She comes in, she looks to me to be cool and collected and unemotional,” Clark said during his testimony. “I would have expected, had she panicked, that she would be quite agitated and emotionally aroused. I didn’t see that at all.”
Earlier on day three of the trial, Gregg’s stepfather took the stand for the second time to be examined by both the defense and the prosecuting state. When asked about his relationship with Gregg following the slaying, he said they are close and still communicate nearly every day.
Gregg will not take the stand during the trial. Courtroom cameras are constantly trained on the young accused killer as she often writes in her notepad and gazes upon the proceedings. As she slumped over in her seat at the end of the day with her eyes closed, it highlighted an already wearisome, emotional trial that is expected to grow in intensity as both sides present their rebuttals on Thursday.
