LEXINGTON, Ky. — Victims who survived a school shooting 25 years ago spoke to members of the Kentucky Parole Board on Monday as the board weighed the possibility of granting release to a man who killed three people and injured five others when he opened fire in a high school in 1997.
A two-day parole hearing for 39-year-old Michael Carneal began Monday morning. Carneal was 14 at the time of the shooting. After being convicted, he was sentenced to life in prison with the opportunity for parole after 25 years, making him eligible for release this December.
Two members of Kentucky’s Parole Board, including Chair Ladeidra Jones and Larry Brock, heard from numerous victims and their families involved in the shooting on Dec. 1, 1997, in the lobby of Heath High School near Paducah.
Carneal pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder and a charge of first-degree burglary. He has served 24 years and nine months of his sentence as of Monday.
Killed in the shooting were 14-year-old Nicole Hadley, 17-year-old Jessica James and 15-year-old Kayce Steger. Among those injured was Missy Jenkins Smith, who was paralyzed after she was shot by Carneal and uses a wheelchair.
Jenkins Smith was one of the survivors who spoke alongside the family of victims Monday and said in addition to Carneal, they received a life sentence as a result of his actions. However, theirs came without the opportunity of parole, they said.
“He sentenced me to life in a wheelchair without the possibility of parole, ever,” Jenkins Smith said. She said she believed Carneal should serve out the remainder of his sentence.
“I could speak for hours about what my life has been like every minute, of every day for the past quarter of a century without the use of my legs. From the way I get out of bed in the morning, to the shower, to reaching the cabinets in my kitchen, to getting in and out of my car, to the limited seating in a public area,” Jenkins Smith said.
The family of Nicole Hadley also spoke about Hadley’s life sentence when she was murdered, and the life sentence they received in living a life without their loved one.
“I believe he should have to serve out the rest of his sentence that he was sentenced to,” said Gwen Hadley, mother to Nicole Hadley. “We as the families, the survivors and the whole community were given a life sentence by the shooter, and did not have an opportunity to get a second chance, or a reduced sentence and to be released from this sentence.”
Her father, Chuck Hadley, said in an impact statement that they were reminded again of all the things they missed experiencing with their daughter, including her high school and college graduations, a wedding, the birth of her children and birthdays and holidays. Nicole Hadley’s brother, Andrew, said he still has to come to terms with the fact parole is an option.
Nicole Hadley’s sister, Christina Ellegood, said her sister had plans to graduate top of her class, attend the University of North Carolina, and become a physical therapist for the WNBA. Because of Carneal’s actions, she said her sister will never be able to help people like she wanted.
“She was sentenced to a life sentence, and he pleaded to one, which he should have to serve out,” Nicole’s sister, Christina Ellegood testified.
Commonwealth Attorney Dan Boaz, who was the McCracken County attorney at the time of the shooting, said the shooting shook the community to its core.
Boaz said the law treated 14-year-old Carneal as an adult in his court proceedings after the shooting. On Monday, Boaz said the parole board should continue to treat Carneal as an adult.
“We ask that he pay for the consequences of his actions, and he be denied parole,” Boaz said. “As (Jenkins) and other people have talked about those who were at Heath High School that day, have been sentenced to life without parole as a result of what he did. We think that equity and justice demands that he suffer the same consequence; that he be denied parole and serve out the sentence.”
Hollan Holm, who was shot in the head by Carneal, spoke during the parole hearing Monday and said he thought he was going to die. He continues to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, and deals with anxiety related to the shooting.
“It was serious and awful and the consequences continue to this day,” said Holm, who is now 40.
But he said he also realizes both he and Carneal were children at the time of the shooting.
“I am a different person today than I was on that day. I have gone on from that day to start a family and to have a career – something that I couldn’t fathom as I laid on the floor bleeding in that lobby,” Holm said. “Michael Carneal has spent almost two-thirds of his life incarcerated for his actions as a child. He is now an adult, in prison for the actions he committed as a child.
“I would have to think after 25 years, he is a different person than he was that day, as we are all different people today than we were 25 years ago. My oldest child turned 10 this year, and I can’t imagine holding her to the standard of an adult. ... I can’t weigh the sum total of his life by the worst actions of his life, on the worst day of my life.”
He said no matter the outcome as a result of the hearings, it won’t bring back the lives of the three girls who were killed.
“No amount of punishment can undo that loss,” he said. “If the board were to grant parole for Michael Carneal, I understand it wouldn’t be a walk out of those doors with no strings attached. …If the mental health experts think he can be successful on the outside, he should get that chance.”
Following Monday’s hearing, an additional parole eligibility hearing will take place on Tuesday at 9 a.m. ET with Carneal. Jones, the parole board chair, said there were three options as a result of the hearings. She and Brock could defer Carneal’s parole for up to five years.
If they could not come to a unanimous decision, then the decision would be referred to the entirety of the parole board who could defer his parole up to 10 years. The final decision could be to order him to serve out the entirety of his sentence.
The board could have a decision at the conclusion of Tuesday’s hearing. If they are unable to reach a unanimous decision at the end of the hearing, then it will go before the full board who will convene on Sept. 26.
Jones said the victim hearing was a vital part of their decision, and in no way was a means to again traumatize the survivors, or victims’ families.
“To the families and victims of Carneal, we cannot imagine the pain that you all have endured since this crime occurred,” Jones said. “The board values the information you have shared with us today and we ask only that you trust the board to make the right decision.”
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