Carly Gregg Has Been Deemed Competent to Stand Trial — The Teenager Is Accused of Murder
"If the young lady is suffering from a mental defect or illness or medication, then she should be set free."
Published Aug. 20 2024, 3:09 p.m. ET
In September 2024, Netflix is releasing a fictionalized retelling of the Menendez brothers story. It's brought to us by Ryan Murphy, who gave Jeffrey Dahmer's gruesome crimes a rebrand in Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. This combined with the popularity of Gypsy Rose Blanchard leaves us wondering if parricide is the new crime du jour in terms of entertainment.
Sadly, there are still plenty of actual crimes that involve a child killing their parent, that could be mined for future true crime use. Take the story of one 15-year-old who stands accused of murder and attempted murder. What exactly did Carly Gregg allegedly do? Here's what we know.
What did Carly Gregg allegedly do?
According to NBC 15 News, then-14-year-old Gregg allegedly shot and killed her mother in March 2024. Security footage from Gregg's home shows the teenager walking into her mother's bedroom a little after 5 p.m. on March 19. One gunshot goes off, and Ashley Smylie screams. Two more gunshots. follow. Smylie was shot once in the chin and twice in the face.
Gregg then texted her stepfather, Health Smylie, to ask when he was coming home. He let her know he would be there in about 45 or 50 minutes. Satisfied with this answer, Gregg texted a friend asking if she'd ever seen a dead body. When said friend said no, Gregg invited her over and she proceeded to take this friend into her mother's bedroom. Gregg then explained that she had "three more for her stepdad, two to the head, one to the chest."
Heath later told investigators that Gregg shot him in the shoulder the second he walked through the front door. The two engaged in a brief struggle wherein Heath was able to disarm Gregg, per WAPT. It was during this scuffle that Heath took note of Gregg's eyes, describing them as "really big." He also said she "looked like she had seen a demon." Gregg then ran past her friend, who was in the backyard and jumped the fence. Less than an hour later, Gregg was found and arrested.
Carly Gregg has been deemed competent to stand trial.
Gregg has since been charged with murder and attempted murder and as of August 2024, has been found competent to stand trial. She will be held in solitary confinement at the Rankin County Jail in Brandon, Miss. until her trial, which is scheduled for Sept. 16, 2024. Due to the severity of the crimes, Gregg is being tried as an adult.
On Aug. 19, 2024, Rankin County Circuit Court Judge Dewey Arthur ruled that Gregg is competent to stand trial, reported the Clarion Ledger. Gregg was evaluated by Dr. Amanda Gugliano whose findings were what allowed the court to proceed with the charges. However, Judge Arthur was still waiting for a mental evaluation portion.
Gregg was previously on a different medication, but was switched to Lexapro a week before the shooting. Because of this, Dr. Gugliano said it could be "relevant to Gregg's mental state at the time of the alleged offense," and suggested that a forensic psychiatrist perform the evaluation in order to fully answer the question of Gregg's mental state.
Judge Arthur ordered all information to be made available by Aug. 20, 2024, the time of this writing, or it would be excluded from the trial. "I’m going to be frank: If the young lady is suffering from a mental defect or illness or medication, then she should be set free. But if she’s not, that is a perilous argument. The jury’s going to make this decision," said the judge. Attorneys from both parties were discussing a plea deal for which Judge Arthur gave an August 22 deadline to reach.
