Brandon, Mississippi – A 14-year-old girl, Carly Madison Gregg, has been charged as an adult and pleaded not guilty to the charges of killing her mother, Ashley Smylie, and injuring her stepfather with a pistol.
The tragic incident occurred in a neighborhood in Brandon, Mississippi, where officers responded to a call of a shooting at approximately 5:07 p.m. Tuesday. Upon arrival, the stepfather informed the authorities that he had found his wife deceased when he returned home that evening. He also revealed that his stepdaughter had shot him in the shoulder with a pistol before fleeing the scene.
Authorities deployed a Mississippi Highway Patrol helicopter and additional officers to search for Gregg. They eventually located her near the property around 5:30 p.m., and she was taken into custody without incident. The teen was then arrested on murder and attempted murder charges and transported to the Rankin County Juvenile Detention Center.
During a hearing in juvenile court the following day, a judge approved a request to charge Gregg as an adult, and she was transferred to the Rankin County Adult Detention Center. Her bond was set at $1,000,000, and she pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Ashley Smylie, the victim, was known as a math teacher at Northwest Rankin High School, where her daughter, Gregg, was also a student. Prior to teaching at Northwest Rankin High School, Smylie was a teacher at Warren Central High School.
Neighbors of the family expressed shock and disbelief at the tragic events, with one stating, “You can’t fathom those kinds of thoughts. You just wouldn’t think the child would do anything like this. It just feels like there’s something missing. There’s something wrong. It’s like a level of caution that you don’t think something like that would happen.”
The community was left reeling from the devastating news, highlighting the impact of such a tragic event on a tight-knit neighborhood. The case continues to unfold as authorities work to uncover the motives behind the incident and seek justice for the victims.