By Sagar Ram Rane 
A shocking case has come to light in which Carly Gregg, a 15-year-old girl, has been sentenced to life imprisonment. The allegation is that Carly Gregg murdered her mother, Ashley Smylie, and also tried to kill her stepfather, Heath Smylie. This incident happened in March 2024 in the city of Brandon, Mississippi, when Carly shot her mother in her home with a .357 Magnum pistol.
Prosecutors say that Carly carried out this act with a gun kept in her parents’ bedroom. She took out the gun from the bedroom and first shot her mother and then waited for her stepfather to return so that she could shoot him as well. But after some time after the murder Carly ran away from there, but after some time the police arrested her. The most shocking thing was that Carly called her friend to her house and said, “Don’t you have a problem with looking at dead bodies?”
The defense team did not support this action of Carly, but they told the court about her mental health. During the testimony it was also told that Carly was facing many psychological problems for some months, in which Carly used to hear some voices and she was also suffering from depression, and her mental health had deteriorated even before the shooting. Dr. Andrew Clark, a forensic psychologist, said the drugs Carly was given to treat her mental health had further numbed her emotional state.
But the jury found Carly guilty of first-degree murder, attempted murder, and evidence tampering. Carly was very emotional during her trial, when she was sentenced to life imprisonment without the option of parole.
The case raises a major question about mental health, particularly in adolescence, when mental health problems can have serious effects if not treated in time.