Decision-makers on the Kentucky parole board have failed to come to a unanimous decision whether to release a man who killed three students and injured five more in a shooting at Heath High School in Paducah, Kentucky.
Michael Carneal has been in prison since the tragic school shooting on Dec. 1, 1997, when he opened fire on his classmates who were holding a before-school prayer meeting.
Carneal was sentenced to life in prison, but his first opportunity to stand in front of a parole board was Tuesday, 25 years after the shooting. During the board hearing, Carneal himself would not say that he needs to be released.
“I don’t know that honestly. It depends on when you ask me,” said Carneal. “Sometimes I think that I just deserve to be killed … sometimes I think that honestly. Then other times I think that due to the fact that I could do some good for a lot of people maybe it would be beneficial if I were released someday.”
Victims’ families and survivors also had a chance to speak to the parole board and share their opinions on whether Carneal should be granted parole. One of the survivors who spoke out on Carneal’s release was Missy Jenkins Smith.
Jenkins Smith considered Carneal a good friend and was in the school band with him as well. She was 15 on the day of the shooting and has been in a wheelchair since.
The full parole board will meet again on Monday to continue deliberating whether to grant Carneal parole or for him to continue serving his life sentence.
Decade of celebration galvanizes voters around the nation
Tuesday was the 10th annual National Voter Registration Day, and Hillsborough County volunteers hosted numerous events hoping to get a record number of voters registered for upcoming elections.
According to U.S. Census data from 2020, as many as 1 in 4 eligible Americans are not registered to vote. Every year, millions of Americans find themselves unable to vote because they miss a registration deadline, don’t update their registration or aren’t sure how to register.
“Voting is our opportunity to have a say in decisions that are made on a local, state and
national level, and I want everyone in Hillsborough County who is eligible to vote to make
sure they’re registered and ready to participate in our democracy,” said Supervisor of
Elections Craig Latimer in a release earlier Tuesday.
According to the latest release from the Hillsborough Supervisor of Elections, Hillsborough County already has more than 918,000 registered voters, but Latimer is urging constituents that are already registered to visit his office’s website to make sure their registration is current and accurate.
The deadline to register is Oct. 11. For more information on how to register or to check your registration status, visit the National Voter Registration Day website.
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Anchor: Leali Shalabi
Producer: Diego Adesso
Reporters: Leali Shalabi, Mirna Abushanab, Kacie Crown, Gabe Glassman, Eduardo Reksiedler
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Graduate Assistant: McKenzie Muskett
Faculty Adviser: Dr. Stephanie Anderson, Wayne Garcia
