RANKIN COUNTY, Miss. (WLBT) – “We the jury find Carly Madison Gregg guilty of first-degree murder.”
In a pair of unanimous decisions Tuesday, Missouri’s high court ruled the
so-called “Missouri First Map” can remain in effect while legal and procedural fights continue over a referendum effort seeking to overturn it. The map, backed by Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe and passed by GOP lawmakers last year, was specifically designed to flip one of Missouri’s two Democrat-held congressional districts and create a 7-1 Republican advantage in the state’s congressional delegation.
Lisa Featherstone was more than 4,400 miles away in England when Rankin
County Circuit Judge Dewey Arthur read the verdict.
“I was just so disillusioned when the jury came back as fast as they did,” she said. “I felt physically sick.”
It’s been nearly a year and a half since Gregg, a former Northwest Rankin High School student, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the shooting death of her mom, Ashley Smylie.
[READ: Carly Gregg found guilty after dramatic week-long trial]
Since then, people from across the globe have come together in the teen’s defense, forming a nonprofit to advocate for Carly and other teens, and launching a letter-writing campaign to the Mississippi Supreme Court on Carly’s behalf.
The group is known as Carly’s Warriors and their nonprofit is the Carly’s Warriors’ Foundation. The organization was registered with the Mississippi Secretary of State’s Office this month.
According to its website, the group’s chief executive officers are Robert and Vicki Breland, Carly’s grandparents, and Heath Smylie, Carly’s stepfather.
[READ: ‘She killed her mom!’ – 911 call released at trial of Carly Gregg]
Other foundation officers include Featherstone, the chief operating officer, Jodi Bush-Stocker, the chief financial officer, and Tara Ashby, the executive director.
We recently spoke with Featherstone, Ashby, and Bush-Stocker, via social media.
All three acknowledge the severity of Carly’s crimes, but say Carly is more than that one act.
“Charles Manson. He got life with parole. Sirhan Sirhan got life with parole. Carly’s a 14-year-old who never had an issue before, and she was sentenced to life with no parole,” said Ashby, the foundation’s executive director and board secretary. “I don’t see how anyone can explain to me how that’s justified.”
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Manson was initially sentenced to death. However, all death sentence cases were commuted to life in prison following a ruling in the People v. Anderson, a California case that did away with the death sentence in that state.
California did not have life-without-parole sentences when those commutations occured.
Carly was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in September 2024, months after she shot and killed her mother and attempted to kill her stepfather at their Ashton Way home.
Court records show, after shooting her mother, Carly called her stepfather on her mother’s phone asking when he was coming home.
The teen’s supporters say Carly isn’t the person she has been portrayed as in the media.
“She can’t even remember what happened or why,” said Bush-Stocker, the foundation’s
chief financial officer and director of advocacy. “She knows she did it because it’s on video, but she has no recollection of it otherwise.”
The three also claim Carly had just been switched to a new anti-depressant, and that the change in medication led to the shooting.
“I watched the trial from start to finish live, which is what got my attention, because I have a daughter that’s very, very similar to Carly, who also had a bad reaction [to an antidepressant],” Bush-Stocker said. “I’ve never had a gun in my home for that reason.”
The three also attempted to clear up why Carly was seen smiling at one point during the proceedings.
“She’s looking at her family, and her family is talking to her,” Featherstone said. “The only time she saw her family was in the courtroom. And during breaks, they would try to lighten the mood.”
Carly, who is now 16, is being held at a Youthful Offender Facility in the state. She also received life in prison for the attempted murder of her stepfather and 10 years for tampering with evidence.
Members of Carly’s Warriors got together last year to mark the one-year anniversary of the verdict. They also stay in constant contact with the teen, with Bush-Stocker speaking to her daily.
“She is missing her mom like crazy,” Bush-Stocker said. “She has said over and over again that her mom is the most important person in her life.”
“This is not something that’s in the past for her. This is current for her,” Featherstone added. “It’s not over for her and it’s not over for the family.”
Carly’s case is currently on appeal to the state Supreme Court.
In a 30-page filing from January 28, Carly’s attorneys argue that the trial court failed to follow rules regarding mental health evaluations, instructed the jury on sentencing options not authorized under state statute, and improperly precluded allowing the trial to be continued if need be.
In the meantime, filings indicate more than half a dozen letters have been submitted on Carly’s behalf, including ones from Featherstone, Bush-Stocker, and Ashby asking for a new trial or a reduced sentence.
“I can’t imagine my kids, even at 21 and 22, making a decision that they’re going to be held accountable for the rest of their lives,” she said. “I never got a chance to meet Ashley… [But] Ashley would not have wanted this for Carly. Ashley never would have wanted her to be the spectacle on TV and to be thrown away.”
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