Carly Madison Gregg, the Rankin County teen accused of slaying her mother in March, has been indicted.
Per Rankin County District Attorney Bubba Bramlett, the 14-year-old was indicted on counts of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and tampering with evidence by a grand jury.
On March 19, police responded to reports of shots fired inside a home on Ashton Way in the Farmington Station subdivision in Brandon. Gregg’s stepfather, Heath Smylie, was found by law enforcement suffering from a gunshot wound to the shoulder. He pointed deputies to the body of his wife and Gregg’s mother, Ashley Smylie. Ashley, a teacher at Northwest Rankin Middle School, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Heath told police that he came home to find his wife dead. He said he was then approached by an armed Gregg who shot him before he fought her off and took the weapon. Gregg fled the scene and was apprehended by officers in a field near the family’s home after a multi-agency search.
Investigators provided information in initial case hearings that Gregg’s alleged murder of her mother was premeditated. The teen is said to have invited a friend over after the shooting. She then showed her friend Ashley’s body and the murder weapon before the friend called her father to come get her. Once arrested and provided bond paperwork, the teen allegedly asked, “Oh, you can kill someone, pay a lot of money, and get out of jail?”
Caleb Coleman, Carly Madison Gregg’s representation since the incident took place in Brandon, has argued that Gregg suffers from a mental disorder and had a change in medication a week before the murder took place. He contends that she was hearing voices while imprisoned, requiring her to change medications on multiple occasions. However, the prosecution has argued that mental illness does not entitle someone to take another’s life.
The murder trial of Gregg is expected to begin in September.
