A Mississippi teen accused of shooting her teacher mom to death earlier this year is considering testifying in her ongoing murder trial.
Carly Gregg, then 14, allegedly fired off three rounds – two into the face – of her mother, Ashley Smylie, a 40-year-old math teacher with Northwest Rankin High School, at the family's Brandon, Mississippi home in March, killing her, according to investigators, the Clarion Ledger reported. She also allegedly shot her stepfather, who survived the attack.
Gregg, now 15, stands accused of first-degree murder, attempted murder and tampering with evidence.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges by reason of insanity.
The teen's trial began Monday, and on Wednesday, she told Rankin County Circuit Court Judge Dewey Arthur that she "would like to wait and see the testimony" before agreeing to testify in her own case, according to WAPT-TV.
Gregg was purportedly motivated to kill after her mom found her secret stash of vape pens hidden in her bedroom, prosecutors said this week, according to WLBT-TV.
"... she peeks her head around the kitchen to make sure that her mom hasn't come out of her bedroom," prosecutor Kathryn Newman told the court during opening statements, the station reported. "We believe the evidence will then show that she walked with that .357 magnum behind her back, walked into her own bedroom, and then fired three shots into her mother, killing her."
Gregg allegedly invited her friend over to see her mom's dead body after the shooting. She then allegedly waited for her stepdad to come home before shooting at him.
Gregg faces up to two life sentences if convicted, after rejecting a plea deal of 40 years in prison, last month.
