“It was evident to me immediately that something was very wrong with [redacted], The way [redacted] was screaming, the way [redacted] looked, [redacted] was moving so fast," the defendant's stepfather testified in court on Tuesday.
A high school freshman accused of murdering her mother cried in court on Monday as bodycam footage taken by a police officer at the crime scene played for jurors.
The 15-year-old girl on trial, who Inside Edition Digital is not naming because she is a minor, admits to shooting her mother, beloved Mississippi school teacher Ashley Smylie.
After shooting her mother, the then-14-year-old student texted her stepfather from her mother's phone to lure him home and attempt to murder him as well, prosecutors said in their opening statement.
The 911 call that the minor's stepfather Heath Smylie made after discovering his wife's body also played in court on Monday, causing the defendant to start sobbing uncontrollably.
Court TV is livestreaming the proceedings, which on Tuesday included testimony from two minors who knew the defendant. The judge asked that all filming stop while the minors took the stand.
One of those minors claimed that the defendant called them after shooting their mother to say: "Are you squeamish around dead bodies?"
The minor arrived at the defendant's home to find Ashley dead in the bedroom with a towel covering her head, according to the minor's testimony. The defendant then said she shot her mother three times in the head, testified the minor.
Video shows the minor and the defendant fleeing the home after Heath came home and managed to wrestle the gun away from the defendant, who discharged the weapon twice. One bullet grazed his shoulder but he suffered no major injuries.
Heath took the stand on Tuesday and made it clear that it is his opinion that his stepchild suffers from mental illness and that her actions on the day she killed her mother and tried to kill him were out of her control.
“It was evident to me immediately that something was very wrong with [redacted],” Heath testified on Tuesday. “The way [redacted] was screaming, the way [redacted] looked, [redacted] was moving so fast.”
He went on to say that he views the defendant as their biological child and under questioning by the prosecution said he could not remember his comments to police, most of which were disparaging of the defendant as he spoke to detectives shortly after the death of his wife.
“I knew that she had been shot, there was blood around, I’m not sure exactly where, on the right side of her face,” Heath said.
Heath also said that he is now speaking with his stepchild despite requesting a no-contact order in the initial aftermath of the shooting.
Prosecutors said in their opening statement that the defendant shot their mother after a friend alerted Ashley to her daughter's alleged drug use.
The defense meanwhile says that while the defendant did shoot their mother and attempt to kill their stepfather the child was suffering from an undiagnosed mental illness at the time.
A plea deal had been offered to the defendant prior to trial that would have seen her sentenced to 40 years in prison, but it was rejected by the defense.
If found guilty, the defendant faces anywhere from 20 years to life in prison.
A lawyer for the defendant did not respond to a request for comment. The defendant has pled not guilty.
