Lacy Aaron Schmidt was fourteen years old from Georgia when he would murder Alana Calahan
According to court documents Lacy Aaron Schmidt had befriended the Calahan family however his true intentions were never clear. The day before the murder Schmidt would break into the Calahan residence and steal a dissembled firearm from a safe
Lacy Aaron Schmidt would go home and put the gun back together. The next day he would head back over to the Calahan residence and when he walked up to Alana Calahan he would fatally shoot the teen in the back of the head
Lacy Aaron Schmidt would be arrested and convicted of malice murder, felony murder while in the commission of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of the crime, and theft by taking a handgun.
Lacy Aaron Schmidt would be sentenced to life in prison without parole
Lacy Aaron Schmidt Current Information
NAME: SCHMIDT, LACY AARON
GDC ID: 1000770354
YOB: 1996
RACE: WHITE
GENDER: MALE
HEIGHT: 6’02”
WEIGHT: 171
EYE COLOR: BROWN
HAIR COLOR: BLN&STR
MAJOR OFFENSE: MURDER
MOST RECENT INSTITUTION: HAYS STATE PRISON
MAX POSSIBLE RELEASE DATE: LIFE, W/O PAROLE
Lacy Aaron Schmidt Case
The Georgia Supreme Court has upheld the murder conviction and life prison sentence for a 14-year-old boy who shot and killed a 14-year-old girl in the east Georgia town of Harlem.
Authorities said the boy, Lacy Aaron Schmidt, went to his friend Alana Calahan’s house and shot her in the back of the neck in January 2011. They say he then dragged her into nearby woods, where she died from the gunshot wound, and later tried to make it appear that someone had abducted her.
Schmidt appealed his conviction to the Georgia Supreme Court, saying a judge and his lawyer had made legal mistakes, and that his sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.
The court said Monday that his arguments were rejected, and his conviction and sentence were upheld.
State High Court Upholds Boy’s Conviction in Killing of Girl
Lacy Aaron Schmidt News
In 2011, 14-year-old Lacy Schmidt was convicted of murdering Alana Calahan in her Georgia home. Calahan was also 14 at the time.
She and Schmidt were neighbors and friends.
Schmidt had been banned from Alana’s house without her parents present.
On the day of the murder, Schmidt entered the Calahan home while Alana was alone. He shot her in the neck with her father’s handgun and dragged her body outside. When Alana’s siblings returned home, Schmidt pretended to help search for her and “found” her body.
Schmidt gave police several different stories about what happened. He eventually admitted to taking the gun but claimed the shooting was an accident. However, evidence showed the gun required significant pressure to fire. Police also found items stolen from the Calahan home in Schmidt’s room.
A jury convicted Schmidt of malice murder, gun possession during a crime, and theft. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Schmidt appealed his convictions and sentence, arguing the jury should have been instructed on involuntary manslaughter, his counsel was ineffective, and his sentence was cruel and unusual punishment.
The Georgia Supreme Court found no errors in the jury instructions excluding involuntary manslaughter. The evidence supported that either the gun discharged by accident, or the killing was intentional. Neither of these are involuntary manslaughter.
Schmidt’s claim of ineffective assistance of counsel also failed because he could not show prejudice or that the representation harmed his defense.
The court rejected his contention about sentencing as well. Schmidt’s claim that life without parole violated the Eighth Amendment because he was a juvenile at the time was meritless.
Accordingly, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the lower court.
The Schmidt ruling affirmed that a life without parole sentence for a juvenile who commits murder is constitutional in Georgia.
