LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Kentucky parole board heard emotional testimony Monday from some victims of the Heath High School shooting about whether they think the shooter should get out of prison.
Michael Carneal was 14 years old on Dec. 1, 1997, when he fired a stolen pistol into a group praying in front of the school in Paducah. Three girls — Nicole Hadley, 14, Jessica James, 17, and Kayce Steger 15 — were killed. Five other students were injured.
A panel of the Kentucky parole board heard from seven people in a hearing that lasted less than an hour. Perhaps the most recognizable victim to testify was Missy Jenkins Smith. She was 15 when she was shot and paralyzed and has spent the past 25 years in a wheelchair.
"I could speak for hours about what my life has been like without the use of my legs," Jenkins Smith said. "Continuing his life in prison is the only way his victims can feel safe about the what-ifs."
She said the victims had no choice. Carneal, she said, made the decision that determined their futures.
Six of the people who testified want Carneal, who is now 39, to stay in prison. But not everyone agreed.
Hollan Holm was shot in the head and survived.
"I laid on the floor of the lobby of Heath High School bleeding from the side of my head and believed I was going to die," he said, adding that he still suffers anxiety that can be triggered by crowds, fireworks or a popping balloon.
Despite his emotional scars, Holm said he is OK with Carneal going free if he is deemed mentally fit.
"I can't weigh the sum total of his life by the worst actions of his life on the worst day of my life." Holm said. "The man that boy became should get the chance to try and do and be better."
Hadley's family is against Carneal being released.
"This shooter needs to stay where he is,"Â said Gwen Hadley, Nicole's mother.
Nicole's sister, Christina (Hadley) Ellegood, was also there the day of the shooting and found her sister on the ground.
"To me, it's not fair for him to be able to roam around with freedom when we live in fear of where he might be," she said.
Ellegood asked if the board does grant parole, Carneal should be restricted from any contact with the Hadley family. She also asked that Carneal be required to report to the victims of the shooting where he is living.
"To this day, I still don't understand why he even has the option of parole," said Andrew Hadley, Nicole's brother.
Carneal was sentenced to life in prison with a chance of parole after 25 years after pleading guilty in 1998 to three counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder and one count of first-degree burglary. Kentucky law requires that minors be considered for parole after 25 years.
Carneal gets his chance to speak via teleconference before the parole board at 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Three students were killed in the 1997 shooting at Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky (left to right) Jessica James, 17, and Kayce Steger 15 and Nicole Hadley, 14. Five others were injured.Â
A public defender, Alana Meyer, wrote the parole board this month asking them to remember that Carneal was 14 and suffering from undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenia and claimed he was being bullied. She said he has "committed himself to his mental health treatment, to participating in available educational and vocational programs, and to being a helpful and positive person within the prison."
Meyer also said Carneal's parents would help him with finances, a job, housing and transportation to and from doctor's appointments, but prosecutor Daniel Boaz told the board that he was the county attorney, when the Heath High School shooting happened. He thinks Carneal should "pay the consequences of his action."
Carneal has spent much of his life behind bars at the Kentucky State Reformatory in La Grange.
The parole board panel made up of two people, Ladeidra Jones and Larry Brock, is expected to announce its decision shortly after they hear from Carneal. If they agree, Carneal could be granted or denied parole. If they disagree, the case goes to the full parole board, which convenes Sept. 26. The full board could decide on parole or defer the case for up to ten years.
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