How many years of sentence will Michael Carneal serve? Kentucky school shooter denied parole in court

On Monday, September 26, 2022, Michael Carneal, the 1997 school shooter, was ordered to spend the rest of his life in imprisonment by the Kentucky Parole Board. Citing the severity of his crime, the Board ensured that he would not be considered for parole again.

Twenty-five years ago, Carneal fatally shot three students and wounded five others in a school shooting. At a time when school shootings weren't occupying news headlines regularly, he was given the maximum sentence for someone his age at the time - imprisonment for 25 years with the chance of parole after completion of the term.

Last week, Michael Carneal told members of the Parole Board that if he were given a second chance at a normal life, he would live with his parents and continue with his mental health treatment.

However, the gunman admitted to still hearing the same "voices" that had urged him to steal a neighbor's pistol and open fire in a crowded lobby of Heath High School in 1997. Though Carneal said that through therapy, it has become easier to control his behavior, this admission made it hard for the members of the Parole Board to vote in favor of his release.

His inmate file lists his mental health prognosis as "poor" and states that he still experiences "paranoid thoughts with violent visual imagery."

According to CBS News, on a Zoom call, the board voted 7-0 to deny parole to Michael Carneal. WLKY reported that Kentucky Parole Board Chair Ladeidra Jones said on the call:

"After deliberating, Mr. Carneal, due to the seriousness of your crime ... your crime involved a weapon. You had lives taken, and the seriousness again, it is the decision of the parole board today to allow you to serve out the remainder of your sentence."

Families of the victims have also expressed their wishes against Carneal's parole.

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Michael Carneal asks for forgiveness for his cruel actions

In a video conference last week, Heath High school shooter Michael Carneal apologized to his victims and the community, which is still scarred by the deadly shooting that took the lives of three teenagers in 1997. He said:

"I'm sorry for what I did. I know it's not going to change things or make anything better, but I am sorry for what I did."

Carneal's actions had far-reaching repercussions for the families who lost their children and those wounded for life. On December 1, 1997, 14-year-old Michael Carneal opened fire at a before-school prayer circle at Heath High School in West Paducah, Kentucky.

The shooting killed 14-year-old Nicole Hadley, 15-year-old Kayce Steger, and 17-year-old Jessica James. A gunshot wound left 15-year-old Missy Jenkins Smith paralyzed and bound to a wheelchair.

When asked about Michael Carneal's parole hearing, Smith firmly stated that she did not want him to be a part of anybody's everyday life. She said:

"For him to have a chance at 39. People get married at 39. They have children. It’s not right for him to possibly have a normal life that those three girls he killed will never have."

As an explanation for why he had picked up the gun on that fateful day, Carneal said at his hearing:

"I was hearing things. And I was extremely hyper-suspicious. And I had felt for years feeling alienated and different."

His public defender had stated in court that 14-year-old Michael Carneal was suffering from undiagnosed and untreated paranoid schizophrenia. He was also struggling with instances of bullying.