14, armed, and accused: Inside the Carly Gregg murder trial

Carly Gregg, 15, from the small town of Brandon, Mississippi, stands accused of fatally shooting her mother and attempting to kill her stepfather. The Carly Gregg murder case began its trial proceedings in mid-September.

Prosecutors allege that on a March afternoon, Gregg, then 14, shot her mother three times with a .357 Magnum pistol before attempting to ambush her stepfather. The incident unfolded in the family's Brandon home, where Gregg was reportedly confronted by her mother over vape pens.

According to Mississippi state prosecutor Kathryn White Newman, Gregg sent a frantic message to a friend, asking for help with an "emergency." When the friend arrived, Gregg allegedly asked, "Are you squeamish around dead bodies?" before leading the friend to her bedroom where her mother's body lay.

Newman detailed the prosecution's case to jurors, stating that Gregg retrieved the gun from her parents' bedroom upon returning home with her mother, a math teacher at Northwest Rankin High School. The teenager then allegedly confronted her mother in her own bedroom, shooting her three times.

Rankin County investigator Zachary Cotton testified at a preliminary hearing in April that home security footage captured Gregg's behavior before and after the shooting. Cotton alleged that one video shows the teenager returning to the kitchen after the incident, texting on a phone. Another video reportedly shows Gregg "singing to her dog" between the time of her mother's death and the alleged attempt on her stepfather's life.

Prosecutors claim that Gregg attempted to shoot her stepfather, Heath Smylie, when he arrived home. A scuffle over the weapon ensued, after which Gregg allegedly fled through the family's backyard. She was apprehended near the house shortly after.

If convicted in this mother-daughter homicide case, Gregg faces two life sentences. Reports indicate that she rejected the state's plea deal of 40 years in prison, and her defense team has entered a plea of insanity.