Dad of Mississippi Teen Who Shot Teacher Mom in Face Hopes She 'Finds Jesus,' Says He Still Loves His Daughter

The father of the Mississippi teen who fatally shot her teacher mom in the face said he hopes she "finds Jesus" as she spends the rest of her life behind bars.

Carly Gregg, 15, was sentenced to life in prison without parole after she was found guilty of the first-degree murder of her 40-year-old math teacher mother, Ashley Smylie, the attempted murder of her 39-year-old stepfather, Heath Smylie, and tampering with evidence, in connection with the deadly shooting at the family's Brandon, Mississippi home in March.

Gregg's biological father, Kevin Gregg, said while she spends the rest of her life incarcerated, he hopes his daughter will rely on her faith to help guide her toward rehabilitation.

"I don't want to judge her," Kevin told WLBT-TV Thursday. "I hope she finds Jesus."

Gregg's parents divorced when she was little, and even then she struggled with thoughts of suicide, but his feelings for his daughter never changed. "... she was a wonderful child," he recalled. "And she was obviously multi-talented, gifted..." He only hoped she had reached out to him before pulling the trigger.

"I love Carly," he said, "and I would love to have tried to help her the best I could. I kept screaming in my head, 'Why couldn't you just have called me?'" During her trial, Gregg maintained her innocence and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but even her own father didn't buy it.

"That girl knew right from wrong," he said. "That girl is not insane. That was a very dumb defense if you asked me, but I wasn't involved. Nobody ever called me."

Prosecutors argued the teen was motivated to kill after her mom found her secret stash of vape pens hidden in her bedroom. After shooting her mother to death, she invited her friend over to see the dead body. Then she waited for her stepdad to come home in hopes he would meet the same fate.

Despite her sinister intentions, Kevin said he's trying to be present for Gregg as she adapts to life in prison. Meanwhile, her attorneys are appealing her conviction.

Originally published in Lawyer Herald