Elizabeth Erwin
News Editor
eerwin1@murraystate.edu
How do those affected by a school shooting move on afterward? When does the time come for closure?
Western Kentucky has seen two school shootings in the last 21 years. While the similarities between Heath and Marshall County high schools are undeniable, there is one clear difference: the length of the judicial process following the attacks.
“In the Heath case, it was so different that he came in and pled guilty at the very first court hearing and took the maximum punishment…They didn’t have to go through all what we’re having to go through,” Mark Blankenship, commonwealth attorney for the Marshall County case, said. “They were the luckiest prosecutors on Earth to get a guilty plea during the first hearing.”
Missy Jenkins-Smith was one of the five students wounded during the Heath shooting. The injuries she sustained left her paralyzed from the chest down.
“I remember [Michael Carneal’s] sentencing; that was the first court thing I had actually attended,” Jenkins-Smith said. “I remember the date well. It was December the 16th of 1998. It was a little over a year or so after it happened.”
On Dec. 1, 1997, Carneal opened fire on students in a prayer circle at Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky. Three students died and five were wounded.
A little over a year later on Oct. 5, 1998, Carneal pleaded guilty but mentally ill to three counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder and first-degree burglary.
Two months later, Carneal was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
With Carneal pleading guilty at the first hearing, families of the victims and the survivors didn’t have to worry about a lengthy trial.
Unlike Heath, the Marshall County case is expected to go to trial, causing anguish and prolonging any chance of closure for those affected.
“They’re frustrated,” Blankenship said. “They’d like to see closure. They’d like for this to get done… But there isn’t any quick way. This is a murder case and it involves a lot of other assault victims and it’s in a public setting – a school.”
Gabriel Parker, the student accused in the Jan. 23 shooting at Marshall County High School was back in court Friday, Aug. 23 for a routine hearing. During the hearing, Parker’s defense attorneys requested a private meeting to ask for funding for an expert.
The judge granted the defense’s request for a private hearing. The defense also moved to seal any records related to that motion.
Parker’s attorney, Tom Griffiths said he has had a difficult time finding an expert witness because no one wants to be associated with the case.
“I have been doing this for more than 20 years but I’ve never had an expert say ‘sure I will help, I’m interested’ and then when I told them what case it was they said ‘sorry, I’m no longer interested–I can’t help you,” Griffiths said. “And actually, we’ve had that with multiple folks because the level of notoriety of this case is so high that one expert was pretty blunt, he said- ‘it could cost me my career.’ And that’s sobering. Because that’s an indication of not just the level of publicity here, which you would expect in Marshall County, but frankly the level of publicity all over.”
Griffiths said the closer the expert is to Marshall County, the more likely it is that he or she won’t want to be associated with the case.
With the judge sealing any records related to the motion, it will allow Griffiths to seek an expert without having to reveal the individual publicly.
The type of expert was not discussed in court.
Blankenship said there is a reason the court proceedings will take time.
“This is a really high profile, important case,” he said.
Although Jenkins-Smith didn’t have to endure a long trial, she did have to face her shooter in court and said it was no easy feat.
“You don’t know how your emotions are going to be when that kind of thing happens,” Jenkins-Smith said. “But I remember the sentencing in ‘98 being very stressful. Addressing him in front of everybody was something personal.”
Since being sentenced, Carneal has tried to appeal his guilty plea several times. He said he wasn’t mentally competent enough at the time of his original hearing to plead guilty.
All of his appeal attempts thus far have proven unsuccessful, but they have made it more difficult for those affected by his actions to move on.
“For the past 20 years, I didn’t realize all these appeals could pop up and it would still be right there in front of my face,” Jenkins-Smith said.
She attended one of Carneal’s appeal hearings in Paducah in 2008.
“I attended with the parents of the girls who passed – pretty much everybody was there except some of the victims,” Jenkins-Smith said. “I just remember being very shaky. I even remember, I think I literally got sick; I felt like I had the flu. I had a temperature during the whole thing; it made me sick.”
Carneal is currently serving life in prison but will be eligible for parole on Nov. 25, 2022 – 25 years after his sentence.
Jenkins-Smith said those affected [in Marshall County] should be aware of what legalities could happen later on.
“I’m hoping in the end they get peace from all of this soon and that it’s over with,” she said. “But just be aware that you never know what is going to pop up or what will happen.”
Regardless, Jenkins-Smith said it is too early in the court process to tell what will happen to Parker.
“Whenever Michael was finally sentenced, it was over a year since it happened,” she said. “It’s still early even though it feels like it should happen quicker.”
Parker’s next court hearing is scheduled for March 8, 2019, nearly 14 months after the shooting.
“In the case of Gabriel Parker, for someone to do something like this, they have a mental problem, and I hope that he gets the help he needs,” Jenkins-Smith said. “It’s going to be a lifelong battle for him just like it is for Michael.”
over a year or so after it happened.”
On Dec. 1, 1997, Michael Carneal opened fire on students in a prayer circle at Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky. Three students died and five were wounded.
A little over a year later on Oct. 5, 1998, Carneal pleaded guilty but mentally ill to three counts of murder, five counts of attempted murder and first-degree burglary.
Two months later, Carneal was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
With Carneal pleading guilty at the first hearing, families of the victims and the survivors didn’t have to worry about a lengthy trial.
Unlike Heath, the Marshall County case is expected to go to trial, causing anguish and prolonging any chance of closure for those affected.
“They’re frustrated,” Blankenship said. “They’d like to see closure. They’d like for this to get done… But there isn’t any quick way. This is a murder case and it involves a lot of other assault victims and it’s in a public setting – a school.”
Gabriel Parker, the student accused in the Jan. 23 shooting at Marshall County High School was back in court Friday, Aug. 23 for a routine hearing. During the hearing, Parker’s defense attorneys requested a private meeting to ask for funding for an expert.
The judge granted the defense’s request for a private hearing. The defense also moved to seal any records related to that motion.
Parker’s attorney, Tom Griffiths said he has had a difficult time finding an expert witness because no one wants to be associated with the case.
“I have been doing this for more than 20 years but I’ve never had an expert say ‘sure I will help, I’m interested’ and then when I told them what case it was they said ‘sorry, I’m no longer interested–I can’t help you,” Griffiths said. “And actually, we’ve had that with multiple folks because the level of notoriety of this case is so high that one expert was pretty blunt, he said- ‘it could cost me my career.’ And that’s sobering. Because that’s an indication of not just the level of publicity here, which you would expect in Marshall County, but frankly the level of publicity all over.”
Griffiths said the closer the expert is to Marshall County, the more likely it is that he or she won’t want to be associated with the case.
With the judge sealing any records related to the motion, it will allow Griffiths to seek an expert without having to reveal the individual publicly.
The type of expert was not discussed in court.
Blankenship said there is a reason the court proceedings will take time.
“This is a really high profile, important case,” he said.
Although Jenkins-Smith didn’t have to endure a long trial, she did have to face her shooter in court and said it was no easy feat.
“You don’t know how your emotions are going to be when that kind of thing happens,” Jenkins-Smith said. “But I remember the sentencing in ‘98 being very stressful. Addressing him in front of everybody was something personal.”
Since being sentenced, Carneal has tried to appeal his guilty plea several times. He said he wasn’t mentally competent enough at the time of his original hearing to plead guilty.
All of his appeal attempts thus far have proven unsuccessful, but they have made it more difficult for those affected by his actions to move on.
“For the past 20 years, I didn’t realize all these appeals could pop up and it would still be right there in front of my face,” Jenkins-Smith said.
She attended one of Carneal’s appeal hearings in Paducah in 2008.
“I attended with the parents of the girls who passed – pretty much everybody was there except some of the victims,” Jenkins-Smith said. “I just remember being very shaky. I even remember, I think I literally got sick; I felt like I had the flu. I had a temperature during the whole thing; it made me sick.”
Carneal is currently serving life in prison but will be eligible for parole on Nov. 25, 2022 – 25 years after his sentence.
Jenkins-Smith said those affected [in Marshall County] should be aware of what legalities could happen later on.
“I’m hoping in the end they get peace from all of this soon and that it’s over with,” she said. “But just be aware that you never know what is going to pop up or what will happen.”
Regardless, Jenkins-Smith said it is too early in the court process to tell what will happen to Parker.
“Whenever Michael was finally sentenced, it was over a year since it happened,” she said. “It’s still early even though it feels like it should happen quicker.”
Parker’s next court hearing is scheduled for March 8, 2019, nearly 14 months after the shooting.
“In the case of Gabriel Parker, for someone to do something like this, they have a mental problem, and I hope that he gets the help he needs,” Jenkins-Smith said. “It’s going to be a lifelong battle for him just like it is for Michael.”