In a school massacre that left three students dead and five others injured 25 years ago, a man from Kentucky testified before a parole committee on Tuesday that he still hears voices that instructed him to grab a gun and fire into a packed high school lobby in 1997.
Michael Carneal's testimony was heard by a two-person panel, which postponed a decision until Monday. At that time, the state's entire parole board will convene and decide whether to grant his request for parole, postpone the next parole decision, or rule that he must serve the rest of his life in prison.
On December 1, 1997, Carneal, then a freshman at Heath High School, near Paducah, Kentucky, discharged the stolen gun at a group of students praying before school in the school's lobby. Carneal received the harshest punishment at the time for a man his age: life in prison with the possibility of parole. School shootings had not yet become a depressing part of the public consciousness. Twenty-five years later, in the shadow of Uvalde and in a country repulsed by the depravity of mass killings, Carneal, now 39, attempted to persuade the parole panel on Tuesday that he merits release.
Following his testimony, Ladeidra Jones, the chair of the parole board, informed Carneal that the two members had not come to a consensus and were submitting his case to the full board, which meets on Monday. Carneal can only be ordered to serve out his whole sentence without being eligible for parole by the full board.
Carneal said during a videoconference from the Kentucky State Reformatory in La Grange that "I was hearing in my head to do certain things, but I should have understood that stealing guns... was going to lead to something horrific" at the time of the shooting. He said that while in prison, he was having therapy and taking psychiatric drugs, yet he still claimed to hear voices. He heard voices telling him to jump from the stairs just a few days prior.
Jones disclosed to Carneal that his inmate file indicates a "bad" outlook for his mental health and notes that despite receiving mental health services, he continues to have paranoid ideas and visualize violent acts.
Carneal responded that he has learnt to ignore them and hasn't acted on them in years when asked how the board could be sure he wouldn't act on such thoughts. He claimed that while some days he feels as like he should be executed for what he done, other days he still believes he is capable of making a difference in the world.
It isn't necessary to accomplish something impressive, he remarked. "Every action you take has an impact on someone. It might involve carrying something or listening to someone. In the future, I want to do something that will benefit society.
Despite adding that the shooting was "not justifiable at all," Carneal explained that it was the result of a number of things, including his mental illness and immaturity. There is really no defense for it.
Nicole Hadley, 14, Kayce Steger, 15, and Jessica James, 17, were all killed in the shooting.
Carneal claimed to have known each of his victims.
He remarked, "Nicole was a very good buddy. It was a tiny school, and many of them were in band with me, so I knew some of them better than others. I had attended several of them's birthday celebrations. I don't remember any of them negatively at all.
Finally, he apologized.
"I would like to apologize for what I did to you, the victims, their friends and families, and the entire community. I am sorry for what I did, but I realize that it won't make anything better or change anything.
Missy Jenkins Smith, a wheelchair-bound victim of one of Carneal's bullets, was watching from her Kirksey home. On a wide sectional sofa were her friend Kelly Hard Alsip, who was hurt the same day, their kids, and other family members.
When Carneal claimed that he had not intended to shoot at the prayer group but rather at random, they laughed. When he said that he had heard voices just two days prior, they likewise expressed shock.
Jenkins Smith commented following the hearing that "at least he's not getting released," even if she dislikes having to wait another week to learn what will happen.
She had stated in her Monday testimony before the parole board panel that she thinks there are too many "what ifs" with Carneal. What would happen if he stopped taking his medicine? What if his medication falters?
Only by continuing to live in prison, she claimed, could his victims feel secure.
She added that Carneal's release would be unfair to the girls he murdered and their families.
They are only given one complete decade of existence, therefore they will always be 17 years old, 14 years old, and 15 years old. a result of Michael's decision," the woman added.
Christina Hadley Ellegood, whose younger sister Nicole was killed in the incident, testified as well on Monday. Ellegood has written of the agony of having to phone their mother and explain that Nicole had been shot after witnessing her sister's body.
She said, "I had no one to turn to who knew what I was going through." For me, it's unfair for him to have unrestricted movement while we always worry about where he might be.
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