A killer who fatally shot three people at a high school prayer circle in Paducah, Kentucky, a quarter-century ago will plead for freedom Tuesday.
Michael Carneal’s public defender is asking the Kentucky Parole Board to keep in mind that Carneal was only 14 at the time and suffered from undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenia as he dealt with bullying and the transition from middle school to high school.
Carneal, now 39, “is committed to mental health treatment, participating in available educational and vocational programs, and being a useful and positive person in prison,” attorney Alana Meyer wrote this month. “Despite his surroundings, he has worked hard to better himself and make the best of his situation.”
Carneal was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to three counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder and one count of first-degree burglary. Kentucky law requires juveniles to be considered for parole after 25 years.
The victims’ hearing was held Monday, and Carneal faced major pushback for his release — from a local prosecutor, family members of the victims and survivors of the Dec. 1, 1997, shooting outside Heath High School. One survivor, who Carneal shot in the head, told the board he understood why people want to keep him in prison, but would vote to give the convicted killer another chance.
Carneal will present his case via video conference Tuesday at 8 a.m. (9 a.m. ET), after which a two-member parole board panel can deny or grant him parole, said board chairwoman Ladeidra Jones. If she and board member Larry Brock don’t agree to Carneal’s fate, the commission may refer his case to the full board, which convenes Sept. 26. 10 years, Jones said.
Chuck and Gwen Hadley — whose 14-year-old daughter, Nicole Hadley, was one of the youths killed that day — spoke first to the board, saying they miss her smile, sense of humor and “great hugs.” Nicole’s. They want Carneal to spend his life in prison because he has never shown remorse or taken responsibility for those he hurt and killed, the board was told.
“We missed Nicole’s high school graduation, college graduation, her wedding, her children, our grandchildren and many birthdays and holidays together,” Chuck Hadley said on the board.
Christina Hadley Ellegood — who often visits the stone memorial to her younger sister Jessica James and Kayce Steger when she’s having a rough day — found Nicole on the ground after she was shot. She also told the board she opposed parole for Carneal, saying Nicole never had the chance to realize her dreams of graduating as a pro, attending the University of North Carolina, working as a WNBA physical therapist or to organize a camp for special needs children.
“Nicole was sentenced to life in prison. Michael (pleaded) to life in prison,” he said. “I think he should spend the rest of his life in prison. Nicole doesn’t get a second chance. Why should I?’
Survivor Hollan Holm opened his statement recounting the day he was shot: “I was a 14-year-old kid. I lay on the floor in the lobby of Heath High School, bleeding from the top of my head and I thought I was going to die. I said a prayer and prepared to die.”
It took a dozen staples to repair his head wound, he said, but the mental and emotional scars run deeper. Holm still struggles in crowds and is uneasy sitting in a restaurant with his back to the door, he said. Scans the room for hazards and exit routes. Fireworks and exploding balloons cause panic, and every school shooting makes him relive the day he was shot, he said.
But when he thinks of Carneal, he said, he thinks of his oldest daughter, 10, and he can’t imagine holding her to the same standards he would hold an adult.
“If the metal health experts think he can be successful on the outside, he should have that chance,” Holm said, saying he understands the anger people feel. “I feel that anger, too, but when I feel that anger, I think about the 14-year-old boy who played that day and I think about my own kids, and I think the man that boy became should have a chance to try to you do and be better.”
Missy Jenkins Smith played in the band with Carneal and remembers him being bullied and bullying others before the day she was shot at age 15. From the wheelchair Carneal left her in, Smith said she could talk for hours about how she struggles without the use of her legs — getting out of bed, bathing, reaching cabinets, getting in and it comes out of cars and the “shame of special accommodations that have to be made wherever I go.”
Where she’s supposed to be taking care of her 12- and 15-year-old boys, she said, she’s being taken care of instead. However, she will not be able to dance with them at their weddings.
Because Carneal has never taken care of himself since the age of 14, he struggles with the conclusion of medical specialists that he can be a productive member of society. What if the stress of life outside prison is too much? What if he stops taking his medicine?
“His continued life in prison is the only way his victims can feel comfortable and safe without being haunted by what ifs,” Smith said.
In her letter to the parole board, Meyer said her client “has shown deep, sincere remorse and has taken responsibility for the shooting.” He also tried to improve himself, maintaining a treatment program for 20 years, completing his GED and anger management program, and taking college classes.
Carneal was suffering from the early stages of schizophrenia – which is difficult to diagnose in teenagers – at the time of the shooting, the attorney wrote, and “there was never any denial that he committed the alleged crimes or that he was deeply mentally ill at the time the crimes were committed.” crimes”.
Citing U.S. Supreme Court cases that indicate juvenile offenders have “greater prospects for reform,” Meyer submitted a re-entry plan that shows Carneal would have strong support from his family and medical professionals. Now housed at the Kentucky State Penitentiary northeast of Louisville, Carneal will move with his parents to Cold Spring, across the state from Paducah, if he is released, according to the re-entry plan presented to the parole board.
His parents will help him with finances, employment, housing and transportation to doctor’s appointments and meetings with his parole officer, the plan says, adding that he will be referred to mental health programs in Cold Spring and nearby Erlanger .
“Michael knows that any apology rings hollow, but he is truly sorry for all the physical and emotional pain he has caused his victims and the Heath High School community at large,” the readmission plan states. “While there is nothing he can do now to erase this pain, he plans to make a positive contribution to society in any way he can.”
District Attorney Daniel Boaz told the board he was county attorney at the time of the shooting, which “rocked us to our core, to put it mildly.” The heinous nature of Carneal’s crime allowed authorities to treat him as an adult under Kentucky law, he said, and the state should continue to treat him as an adult who should “pay for the consequences of his action.”
Before Monday’s hearing, the commonwealth’s attorney informed the board that he would oppose parole for Carneal, saying the families of the child victims have suffered losses “too immense to put into words,” according to the CNN affiliate WDRB. While Carneal’s life sentence “may seem like a harsh sentence,” Boaz wrote, “it is but a pittance compared to what these families are going through.”
