[Music] loation [Music] emergency I know what happened shoot me your daughter tried to shoot you shooting at me where she at [Music] away 14 14 March 19th 2024 brand in Mississippi a community that Prides itself as the second safest city in the state was shaken by an unthinkable crime a 14-year-old girl was taken into custody accused of shooting her own family members in a chilling case that has left everyone asking why in this video we'll break down the details of this shocking case and Tackle The Haunting question on everyone's mind what could push a 14-year-old to commit such a devastating act against her own family let's Dive In Ashley Nicole Smiley born in April 1983 in Stuart Florida was a devoted mother and a beloved algebra teacher at Northwest Ranken High School where her 14-year-old daughter Karly Greg also attended before joining Northwest Ranken she taught at Warren Central High School for 5 years a true Floridian at heart Ashley cherished the state's beaches and delighted in family trips to Disney World her passion for Education was recognized in 2022 when she was honored as the new teacher of the year Ashley lived in a three-bed two bath home on Ashton Way with her husband Heath Smiley Carly and their two golden retrievers Wyatt and Finn family members described her as a devoted mother who loved reading and spending quality time with her loved ones an exceptional student who had skipped the fourth grade Carly had no history of Behavioral issues until she recently began exhibiting troubling signs she and her mother clashed when her mother discovered Carly had a secret boyfriend and decided to take her phone away Ashley and Heath considered these challenges typical adolescent Growing Pains part of Carly's natural quest for Independence they believed they were dealing with regular Teenage Behavior unaware of the deeper issues Carly was facing as such Carly was undergoing therapy for anxiety and stress according to court testimony from her stepfather other stressors included Carly's biological father Kevin Greg who struggled with drug addiction he had allegedly allowed Carly to drink beer at the age of 12 the custody battle over Carly was contentious and Ashley reportedly feared Kevin to the point of keeping a loaded firearm in the house for protection Tuesday March 19th 2024 Ashley and Carly returned home from school shortly after 400 p.m. and they would soon Clash again Ashley had received information that her daughter was smoking marijuana through vape pens as soon as she and Carly got home Ashley entered Carly's bedroom to search for the evidence at that time only Ashley and Carly were present home surveillance footage shows Carly holding an object behind her back out of the camera's view as she walks toward the bedroom to confront her mother you all [Music] according to prosecutors just seconds after the shooting Heath received a text message from Ashley's phone asking when will you be home honey after getting a reply Carly frantically messaged her teenage friend to come over to help with an emergency when the friend arrived at the front door Cari asked are you squeamish around dead bodies she then escorted her friend to the bedroom to show her her mother lying on the floor Carly allegedly turned to her friend and said I put three in my mom and I have three more for my stepdad when he gets home shortly after Carly allegedly took down the interior camera and placed it in the refrigerator according to the home's outdoor surveillance footage Heath arrived at 50:3 p.m. feeling nothing was out of the ordinary however he was unprepared for what awaited him in court testimony Heath explained what he encountered next I I wanted talk to you about um tell us tell the ladies and gentlemen he and I know it's probably difficult you can take as much time as you need tell the ladies and gentlemen exactly what you remember about when you came home on March the 19th 2024 um everything seemed pretty normal and uh came on in and when I open the door to the kitchen there on gun went off in my face before the door was I don't know 3 or 4 Ines wide open and um everything kind of kind of went pretty fast from there it was a blury [Music] I know what happen to sh me your daughter tried to shoot you at me where she at she 14 14 upon arrival deputies found Heath lying on the ground outside the front door having been grazed by a bullet to the neck area why did you some he was in je gra t-shirt got short so je gr t-shirt short brown hair does she still have the gun they saw in the kitchen en cter one went in the back door she Tri to shoot I need some he's saying that she ran towards Magnolia place he's but he he's P it went through his shirt I know G she R over the side back toward myle she might this way the after the shooting attempt Carly fled the scene by jumping over a backyard fence deputies with the help of a Mississippi Highway Patrol helicopter launched the search of the area Carly was found not far from the residence she was taken into custody without further incident about 30 minutes after the 911 call came in based on the evidence and circumstances at the scene Carly was charged as an adult with murder attempted murder and tampering with evidence Bond was set at $1 million she pleaded not guilty to all charges and remained in custody pending trial 5 months after the shooting Carly was offered a plea deal that would result in 40 years in prison which she rejected through her defense team thus opening statements in the Mississippi versus Carly Greg trial were heard on September 16th if convicted she faced life imprisonment for murder 20 years to life for attempted murder and 10 years for tampering with evidence prosecutors painted a picture of Carly Greg living a double life before killing her mother and attempting to kill her stepfather they argued that her parents parents had no idea she was still texting her boyfriend using burner phones smoking marijuana before school or hiding secret social media accounts prosecutors called it a clear-cut case emphasizing that the autopsy confirmed the cause of death as gunshot wounds to the head with the manner being homicide Undisputed facts they insisted Carly's actions both before and after the shootings proed that she wanted her mother dead the defense had an alternative perspective good afternoon I know it's been a long morning for you all so I will try to do this as briefly as possible this is not a who done it case we know who took action on March 19th to bring about the death of Ashley Smiley and the injuries to Heath Smiley however this is a why case why did it happen why did this exceptional child with no History of Violence who was loved by her friends her teachers her parents who had a good home life who loved her mother why did she shoot her mom why did she shoot at her stepfather the state would like you to believe the answer to those questions don't matter but we know better than that the answers to those questions is why we're here today and it's what you're here to do we believe the evidence will show that there were three victims on March 19th Ashley Smiley Heath Smiley and Carly smile and Carly Greg that they were all three victims we believe the evidence will show that Carly had been suffering from a mental illness that Carly was not aware on March 19th that she had a mental illness we believe the evidence will show that Carly's parents who lived with her were not aware that Carly was suffering from a mental illness we believe the evidence will show that Carly's close friends who saw her at school every day were not aware that Carly was suffering from a mental illness because it's hard to look at a person and understand that they have a mental illness it's hard to look at a person and know that they have a mental illness that's why it's often referred to as the invisible disease a person can exhibit symptoms of a mental illness without people necessarily knowing that they have one or other people necessarily knowing that's what another person has while the events on March 19th were tragic the events on March 19th were not intentional the defense called Dr Andrew Clark a franic psychiatrist to the stand to provide expert testimony about Carly's mental state before during and after the shootings what if anything were you able to gauge about Carly's his you know having any behavioral issues or a history of Behavioral issues so it was my impression that Cari had to a very large extent always been well behaved was a dutiful girl sought to do well in school sought to please her mother by doing well in school um and then in the last perhaps year um developed some what I took to be relatively um um um common teenage behaviors such as staying up past curfew on a burner phone to text with friends for example I think one on one occasion she snuck out at night after curfew to go visit a friend um and then and then um uh in addition in the last perhaps 6 weeks prior to the she began smoking marijuana what if any past history of trauma did Carly have so Cari had had a somewhat difficult childhood in a couple of different ways one is that she had a younger sister who died of a medical illness when Carly was about four years of age and the younger sister was around 18 months of age and Carly reported to me that that was hard for her she remembered it happening and it it was difficult for her secondly her parents divorced when she was around four or 5 years of age she reported to me that she remembered a lot of arguing and that she recalled having seen her mother having been um um bruised or injured by her father that there was domestic violence although she never witnessed it directly she told me that um her mother had informed her um that the father had beaten her and she told me that she recalled she and her mother leaving late at night um uh in uh as as as the parents separated she told me that she and as my understanding as well from records that Kari had court ordered visitation with her father about every other week but that that was difficult that she found her father to be um Angry unreliable um uh at times he would just sit in a chair all day long and not speak to her that at times he wouldn't help her get food or fluid uh and there was one incident in particular when she was around 6 years of age when something the father had done frightened her and she ran and hid under the bed and this was an incident that uh um um continued to bother her she also told me that her father was a dangerous and scary driver and it was hard it was scary for her to drive with him Charlie told me that for at least the last few years she had at times um restricted her food intake um at times had um um um binged and then Pur by making herself throw up she told me that she had never taken laxatives or diuretics but that she had been engaging in these eating disorder behaviors for you know a somewhat regular basis um she told me that she had never actually lost the substantial amount of weight um but she'd been doing these things um for at least a couple of years and so she was having if I may um mood issues eating disorder issues cutting herself hearing voices and sleeping difficulty um all I guess leading up to um January of 2024 Dr Clark added that he diagnosed Carly with bipolar 2 disorder he claimed that her anti-depressant which were changed just weeks before the shootings may have exacerbated her mental state eth Smiley the surviving victim and stepfather of the accused took the stand on the second day of the trial and his extensive testimony he detailed his encounter with Carly on the day of the shooting do you swear or affirm to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God I do have a seat just yourself up to the market you understand that you're now under and your answers be sworn answers under penalty of burger yes sir you may proce if you would introduce yourself to the ladies and gentlemen uh my name is Heath Smiley and Heath uh we've met before today that's right yes ma'am um if you would though uh these ladies and gentlemen don't know you so if you would just kind of tell them a little bit about how old you are um 39 years old um I'm a physical therapy assistant and I've uh been Carly's stepdad for it was almost I guess three and a half years and and so on that day the second door was what was closed yes I believe you said that you didn't get it open probably 3 or 5 Ines uh before it went off do what did you remember seeing Heath uh just gun flash in my face and um then know went off two more times but my hand was on the gun after the first shot I twisted it from her uh who who was pointing that gun at you it was Carly uh who pulled the trigger when you opened the door the first one I know was Carly after that my hand was on the gun too and I know I had a scratch on my thumb and all I very well could have hit it I know that third time uh how close Heath was that gun to your face when that went off uh maybe a foot um did the did you ever get struck by a bullet yes uh one of them kind of grazed right through this muscle up here um can you tell ladies and gentlemen what uh what did that feel like I know this sounds weird but I honestly have never felt it to this day walk us through you said that you were able to at some point get the gun from her tell us he what is it that you remember after that um she was screaming out of her mind scared uh it was like she had seen a demon or something she was terrified and my first thought was there was an intruder somewhere and she thought she was after somebody else um and and to be clear Carly never told you that she thought somebody else was in the house right no that's the feeling that I got she was terrified out of her mind and at that time you did not yet know that your wife was dead right no not at that time um so so Carly's scared she's screaming when she shoots at you um how many shots went off from that gun at that time there was three um what type of gun was it that you took from Carly it was my Taurus revolver and what type of Cal what caliber of weapon is that so the gun is a 357 Magnum but I think it had the 38 Special rounds in it you can if the guns at 357 it can also shoot 38s a little bit lighter recoil um and what color was that gun uh it's just the like gun mat silver prior to taking it out of Carly's hand where was the last time you saw that gun uh actuallyy kept it on her side out of the bed so it had been there for probably a couple years when you say on her side of the bed was it on a nightstand or was it somewhere else uh I think she kept it we had like little Cubbies underneath the edge of the bed the mattress is sitting up on I think it was sitting up under there between the mattress and the Cubbies like I it was just I think she just had it in a cubby under there uh was the gun just loose or was it in some sort of holster the last time you saw it I do not recall that it was a while back it had been sitting for a long time did you have other guns in the house on that day yes uh I had an old shotgun that I've had for years that's unloaded in the closet and I had an AR that I had gotten it was also unloaded in the closet um Heath at some point um there was a no contact order put in place uh between you and Carly yes um did you ask the court to lift that yes um and since that time you've had contact with her yes at anytime during your communication with Carly has she told you that she was not the person that killed her mother no we have not had any kind of conversation anything like that nothing to do with the case or the trial um do you see Carly in the courtroom here yes uh if you could uh could you point her out got that um and could you tell me uh where at that table that she pointed at that she's sitting she's in between Mr camp and M and black um and is that the same person that shot you with that 357 Magnum on March the 19th 2024 yes may the record reflect defendants identify the I mean I'm sorry that the witness has identified the defendant record reflect do you think that if someone shoots at me unprovoked that that's a violent offense uh I guess so really depends on the circumstances again unprovoked I'm walking into this courtroom and out of nowhere the J closes to the door as soon as I open it pulls out a gun and fires it at me is that a violent offense it could be depends on the circumstances you said that Carly you never saw her get mad or yell I have never seen Carly just angry or anything never no ma she's always been just a happy little girl was she a happy little girl when we just heard the video when she was firing a gun at you like I said I have never I've never seen anybody like that even in movies she was not herself and like I said I do not believe she even recognized me she was terrified and he I believe on Direct um when I asked you about uh medications you actually didn't handle Carly's prescriptions or medications right no Ashley was making sure she was taking them I want to talk to you uh Mr Smiley you said that um law enforcement came over a couple times and they didn't find these cameras um did Miss Todd and Mr Camp come over to your house at some point yes they did and when was that I think it was after the second police search um and at any point did they also conduct a search of your house they came through and wanted to take pictures and get the layout of the house uh did they take anything from the house I think they took a couple pieces of her for artwork and a couple things like that but I'm not searing at this time and you don't know as to what uh they did with those do you I do not um did they ever find the camera in the refrigerator no courts Indulgence you're questions may this witness be finally excused by the state after 3 days of testimony the defense appeared to be in a hopeful position in terms of their strategy which was to prove Not Guilty by reason of insanity their approach relied on the notion that a jury would be reluctant to severely punish a 14-year-old girl grappling with mental health issues despite the severity of her actions the testimony from their expert psychiatrist reinforced this approach providing evidence of Carly's psychological struggles that could mitigate her culpability moreover the surviving victim and stepfather Heath took the stand and unexpectedly bolstered the defense's case instead of expressing animosity or ill will toward Carly he demonstrated compassion and support for his stepdaughter his demeanor could evoke sympathy from the jury and influence the perception of Carly's actions and character however the Dynamics of the trial shifted on the fourth day after the defense rested its case the prosecution called a number of mental health practitioners to the stand one of whom was psychiatric nurse practitioner Olivia lever as a medical professional who directly interacted with Carly NP lever's insights could give the jury a different perspective on Carly's mental state and responsibility for her [Music] actions all right good morning ladies and gentlemen of the jury did everyone follow the Court's instructions over night did anyone allow themselves to be exposed to any media accounts any social media or any news counted this case everyone shaking their head in the negative we will proceed all right the defendant having arrested the state may call any Witnesses it wishes to call in rebuttal St calls Olivia Liber Olivia Liber swear or affir to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing the truth you adjust yourself up to the microphone you don't have to speak directly okay do need you speak so that lay Buri back row over there got it understand that you're now right are sworn answer subject to F per sir all right you may proceed if you would Olivia introduce yourself to these men and women I'm Olivia Liber and Olivia where do you work precise mind tell us a little bit about what precise mind is it's an outpatient um mental health clinic and we do research and um mental health care for all ages just to be clear you're a little n n today right yes yeah I is this your first time to ever testify yes all right um how do you and what is your role at precise I'm a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and can you kind of tell us a little bit about what that is and what you do yeah um I got a degree with a master's degree in advanced nursing practice so um I chose to specialized in psychiatric mental health the nurse practitioner program requires 1,200 hours of clinical practice and we have to do different specialty groups um have experience with different specialty groups like geriatric adolescence outpatient and inpatient Psychiatry so it's just a specialized nurse practitioner role provider role and when did you do that um that was 2 and a half years ago and I graduated in December 2021 and have you been at precise the whole time since then yes mhm um and what is it that you do um I know you told us that you're a nurse practitioner there but what is it that you actually do like with patients at okay we um we evaluate them and assess them and we diagnosed and then do medication management when you're uh evaluating them um is it important that they provide you accurate information oh yes very um and why is that because we based our diagnosis on that I want to take you uh Olivia to uh there's a section in that assessment about thought processes could you tell us about um what you observed and what your records indicate about whether or not Carly was having abnormal or psychotic thoughts on January the 15th 2024 she denied those um and did she ever tell you that she was having those types of thoughts before January the 15th of 2024 no she denied hallucinations or delusions um and what was your diagnosis of Carly from your uh encounter with her in January 15th of 2024 adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood and then major depressive disorder single episode moderate um severity so for those of us that are not in the medical field will you break that down for us and just tell us kind of what that means sure um an adjustment disorder is um basically just based on a stressful situation that might have happened that is their reaction to that so um um pretty common um especially in her age group so and then I specified there's a specifier that you can add that says with mixed anxiety or depressed mood so I added that and then um major depressive disorder um and then you can specify single episode or if it's been recurrent and then the severity um if it's moderate or severe or minimal and you put single episode can you tell us what you meant by that um just that it wasn't chronic um that I was aware of at that time and so and again you're just able to render your opinions based off the information provided to um you had the opportunity to um provide treatment to Carly was that on February the 14th of 2024 correct uh and the notes I'm looking at say that was a tele Med right um and it was mom was present uhuh uh so so ladies and gentlemen what does that mean t um they they just have the option to do in person or a zoom call for their appointment and what did Carly tell you there's sort of a history provided by the patient what did she tell you about uh the medication she was on at that point that it had not really had an impact on her at that time and so kind of what was your discussion about we're on 25 milligrams and then what did you talk to them about um how it's affected them and if they've had any bad side effects and if they have not then and it has not done anything like for her at that point then we usually go up on it and I want to talk about the side effects cuz your medical records specifically say the patient denied SI hi and AVH so if you could walk us through what does it mean when it says patient denied SI suicidal ideations and when she denied hi what does that homicidal ideation uh and what about when she denied AVH auditory visual hallucinations so she's denying seeing things that other people don't see and hearing things that other people don't see right um did she also deny any other side effects from the medication right you did a mental assessment and risk assessment on Miss Greg again on that day mhm um can you walk us through um that day was she oriented to time place and person yes and did she report having any trouble with recent memory or remote memory no not that I saw um down under thought processes uh did she report having any abnormal or psychotic thoughts no Rebecca Kirk a licensed professional counselor and owner of Magnolia Counseling in Madison also testified about her sessions with Carly Kirk said that she met with Kari weekly for nine sessions before the shootings during these meetings she stated that Carly never mentioned using illegal drugs experiencing hallucinations or having any memory issues notably neither Carly nor her mother reported any episodes of derealization dissociation or blackouts however Kirk did note that Carly expressed frustration that her friends weren't as committed to school as she was Kirk also mentioned that during their sessions Carly spoke about reading Crime and Punishment by Fodor dovi the novel centers on a protagonist who kills a woman believing that extraordinary individuals can justify immoral acts for a greater good the prosecution then introduced Dr Amanda Gano director of the forensic evaluation service at Mississippi State Hospital Dr Gano testified that She interviewed Carly and after assessing her medical records found her competent to stand trial following Dr Gano was Dr Jason picket a forensic psychiatrist at North Mississippi State hospital he evaluated Carly and concluded that she did not meet Mississippi standard for Insanity at the time of the offense Dr Piet further stated to the jurors I highly doubt and do not believe that Carly has bipolar disorder and then dropped this bombshell to the jurors then I also said some Psychopathic traits and I don't use that word lightly especially in an adolescent but as I was reviewing her journal where she says it's okay to be evil when I see the callous nature in which she left her dead mother to text her next intended victim and then even use the word honey that is callous and it's it is very concerning to me in her journal she often talked about you know there were violent themes I think she may have some with her friends as I was reviewing Discovery there's memes about violence there's often this mix of fantasy dark humor and violence uh you know I I've seen a lot of memes I won't go into them but the callousness of which she did that she has this super official charm she's Charming she's very likable I liked her when I did the interview I don't like saying any of these things but I truly believe them and so she's very Charming manipulation she took extensive notes about how to manipulate with the testimony wrapped up and all evidence presented the fate of the now 15-year-old Karly Greg rests in the hands of the jury the jury has two choices find Carly Greg guilty or Not Guilty by reason of insanity if they decide she's not guilty they must determine whether her sanity has been restored if they believe she remains a threat to society she won't walk free instead she'll be sent to the state hospital for further evaluation where a treatment plan will be developed this is no simple decision and the consequences of their verdict will dictate Carly's future and her potential risk to the public M Greg please rise and come to the podium along with your attorneys all right the verdicts appear to be in proper form verdict of the jury is count one we the jury find the defendant Carly Madison Greg guilty of first degree murder is charged in the indictment count two we the jury find the defendant Carly mass and Greg guilty of attempted murder as charged in the indictment count three we the jury find the defendant Carly Madison Greg guilty of tampering with evidence as charged in the indictment please be seated Mr Greg ladies and gentlemen the jury is custom for the court to pull the jury I have to do it each time I'm not being and for each count I'm not being rude quickest way for me to get through this is just simply point at you and you answer out loud as to count one we the jury find the defendant Carly Madison Greg guilty of first-degree murder is charged in the indictment beginning on the first row ma'am is that your verdict sir is that your verdict yes sir ma'am is that verdict sir is that verdict ma'am is that verdict got to answer out loud ma'am I'm sorry yes on the back row sir is that a verdict ma'am is that your verdict ma'am is that your verdict s is that your verdict ma' in the end Carly Greg was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of her mother and the attempted murder of her stepfather the decision to turn down the plea deal which would have given her a lesser sentence clearly backfired the jury weighed the evidence her secretive life and the devastating impact of her actions ultimately concluding that her mental health struggles did not absolve her of responsibility for these horrific crimes for a community shaken to its core the verdict brings a sense of closure but it's a bitter resolution a mother lost a family shattered and a young girl condemned to spend her life Behind Bars it's a case that will haunt everyone involved for years to come a reminder of how hidden turmoil can lead to unimaginable tragedy