Show Notes
On July 18, 2022, 14-year-old Brooke McLaughlin was murdered in her home in Mount Vernon, Maine, and a 15-year-old has been arrested in her death.On January 31, 2011, 14-year-old Alana May Calahan was shot and killed in her own home by a neighbor who was close with their family, Lacy Aaron Schmidt, who was also 14. Many questions remain, including: why?
Music:
We Talk of Dreams
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Show Transcript
Just so you know, this show is built scary stuff. So don't say I didn't warn you guys. I remember, Don't be scared m M episode one thirty four, Second Chance war Baby here with another episode of Murderous Miners Hi Everyone. August twenty six marks nine months since the Texico shooting in Garland, Texas, and suspected gunman Abele Acosta remains on the run.
In other news, just over a month ago, yet another case of a young teenneteen murder made national news when Brooke McLaughlin was found dead in tiny rural Mount Vernon, Maine, about eighty miles southwest of the city of Bangor. She'd only been fourteen years old for two weeks. The bubbly teen with curly red hair was known as being mature beyond her years and for loving animals, especially her own pets, which included a cat and a bearded dragon lizard that she adored. Brooke was in the seventh grade at Annacook Community Middle School in Redfield, Maine.
Reports tell us that around six pm on Monday July eighteenth, two thousand and twenty two, Brook's mother returned to their home on BlackBerry Road and discovered her daughter unresponsive, and the team was soon declared dead. Investigators quickly determined that Brooke had been murdered. Noticeably missing from the McLaughlin home was one of the family's cars, a red two thousand and ten Chevy im Paula, which was located roughly twenty miles away in the town of Wayne, Maine, the morning after Brook was killed. Within a few days, the public learned that a suspect had been arrested and that he lived in Wayne, where the stolen car had been recovered.
On Saturday, July twenty third, two thousand and twenty two, less than a week after Brooke's death, her boyfriend was arrested and charged with intentional or knowing murder for allegedly killing her two days after what was reportedly his fifteenth birthday. Although he has yet to be bound over to adult court, the Office of the Main Attorney General did identify him on July twenty fifth, two thousand and twenty two. Social media posts indicate the pair had been dating for a few months since February two thousand and twenty two. Some speculation has been offered by a source someone who identifies themselves as a family friend.
She told the son when interviewed that she believes that brooks murder was quote premeditated, and went on to speculate that quote from what I understand, it was their birthday and his family wasn't there to properly celebrate with him, so he did something to ensure that that day was never forgotten. Again, doubling down on the fact that quote that hasn't been confirmed, but it's one of those things being thrown around. As for the suspect, she said that quote, I only met him a handful of times. Neither he nor any of his family members have shown any type of aggression or anything like that.
I would have never dreamed that the kid could possibly do something like this. His family has reached out to us, and they're in just as much disbelief as everyone else. A manner of death beyond homicide has been kept out of the media, and the affidavit has been sealed because those involved are miners. The team made his initial appearance in the Juvenile Division of Waterville District Court on July twenty fifth, two thousand and twenty two, where he entered a plea of denial.
He continues to be held at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, Maine, with his next court appearance scheduled for September fourteenth, two thousand and twenty two. This week on Murderous miners were looking at an earlier, yet similar case of middle school murder, the two thousand and eleven shooting death of fourteen year old Alauna may Callahan. Convicted of the crime was her neighbor and close friend, Lacy Aaron Schmidt, who was also fourteen. On the nine one one call, Schmidt told dispatchers that he lived behind a Laana and her family and had seen a man in black running through the woods in tiny rural Harlem, Georgia, named after the New York City borough and the birthplace of Oliver Hardy, one half of the famed classic comedic duo Laurel and Hardy.
Schmidt said that he'd left his home to see where the man was going, and stopped to check on his friend Alaana's house, where he saw blood on the carpet by the back door and the computer chair knocked over. He had then joined Alauna's older sister, Amanda, who had just returned from the end of the family's mile long driveway, where she had retrieved their younger brother from his bust. The trio began searching the property and quickly Schmidt went straight toward where he saw Alaana's body about twenty yards away from the house, where she lay face up in the woods. Drag marks from the back door provided a bloodsmeared path that could be followed directly to her a.
Lawna's sister called nine to one one and emotionally tried to explain that she'd only been gone for a few minutes, having left her sister at the computer checking her Facebook page. When she returned from the bus stop with their younger brother no more than four to five minutes later. Amanda said that she saw quote red stuff in their front yard and near the computer area. When she got inside the house, fourteen year old Alawna Callahan was nowhere to be found.
The Callahan parents and the younger four of their six children moved into their new home on Miles Road when the two thousand and ninth school year ended in May two ten. Alanna was the fourth child and seemed to hold so much hope for her family. The eighth grader at Harlem Middle School was academically inclined and wanted to attend Harvard and or Yale, and one day become an attorney. According to Alanna's father's later testimony, they met Lacey Aaron Schmidt around March two thousand and ten, after they purchased their home on Miles Road and started preparing it for their upcoming move in.
Alanna and her younger brothers met him down at a creek in the woods and just brought him home one day. Mister Callahan testified that Schmidt just started showing up and hanging around, playing with the kids, and often helping him with yardwork and other projects. Alana's mother testified later that he was extremely close with her kids and that the only thing she found off putting was that whenever he rode four wheelers with her nine and ten year old sons, her boys would always come back injured. Although Alana was Schmidt's girlfriend for about three days after they first met, her youth pastor from church advised her that she was too young, and the teens reverted back to being just friends.
Alaana's mother said that for the first couple of months, everything was fine with the friendships, and Schmidt came over after school almost every day, and on weekends. They even took him along on trips and vacations. He was treated like family. As far as Schmidt's actual family is concerned, their history is both complicated and controversial, and all of the following information comes directly from the later testimony of his half sister born more than thirty nine years before him, and another sister who was three years older than him.
Being his sisters, they had deep insight into Schmidt's childhood, and through their testimonies we learned that after divorce the older sister's mother, their father married another woman who had a daughter that he sexually abused. When that daughter was thirteen years old, she gave birth to Schmidt's older brother. No authorities were notified. Five years later she had a second child with her stepfather, a daughter, and a little over three years later, Lacy Aaron Schmidt, was born.
When his mother was twenty one years old, they had a fourth child as well, all the while child's services were never called and neither were police. Their father was ultimately imprisoned for raping a fifty six year old woman in a care facility, and Schmidt was not raised by him, nor did he live with him as a child. Instead, by the age of five, he and his siblings were living with their much older half sister when Schmidt was five years old. The older half sister kept her four half siblings for what was meant to be two to three weeks as their mother quote found them a decent place to stay, and during that time, Schmidt's older sister, who was eight, described episodes of sexual abuse facilitated by their own mother.
In an interview as an adult, she recalled her mother leaving bars with men just so they would have a couch to sleep on for the night. She said that her mother left them unattended with some of these men, which led to them being repeatedly sexually abused. At this point, Child's Services were finally alerted and the four children were formally placed in their half sister's care. Not everything was smooth sailing there, though, Either and his sister described at his sentencing how they had been placed in another volatile household.
She described a new guardian who took a quote biblical spare the rod spoiled the child approach to parenting, which ultimately led to Child's Services ordering several members of the family into anger management classes. Schmidt and one sister were removed from their half sister's home for a time and she was adopted. However, he was returned to the same house Child's Services had removed him from. Then there were the child molestation accusations brought against Schmidt.
Just prior to mid two thousand and nine. His half sister, slash Guardian, testified that following an infancy and early childhood rife with abuse, neglect, trauma, and sexual molestation, a young relative reported that Schmidt had touched him inappropriately over his pajamas. She testified that she made sure that the child's parents called the authorities and that Schmidt was held accountable for his actions. Consequently, Schmidt was placed on probation and required to complete an eighteen month program for juvenile sexual offenders, and when he was halfway through his probation period, the Callahans moved Dawn to the neighboring property.
The family was well aware of Schmidt's molestation charge, and the younger boys especially were put on high alert to watch for any behavior that was inappropriate or made them uncomfortable. According to Alaana's father, though that never happened, and they grew to trust him and grew to love him, offering him what mister Callahan referred to as quote a second chance. His guardian testified that her little brother called a Lawna's parents mom and dad. Other witnesses testified about the relationship, using words like idolized and obsessed.
An Schmidt's Facebook profile was even under the name Aaron Callahan. He wanted to be an actual part of this family, and there had even been talks of the Callahan's legally adopting him, although no moves had been made to do it. At his actual house on the other side of Miles Road, he and his siblings were loved, but also not fully accepted. According to Schmidt's sister, who was three years older than him, things that his home were getting rocky because, as his guardian later testified, his desire to be a Callahan was slowly affecting his desire to mind her.
He didn't respect her authority, and since Child's Services had forbid her from any further quote chastising, which included physical disciplining, her only recourse was to resort to grounding him as a means to create some distance between Schmidt and the Callahan's influence. It was a lovely influence, as the Callahans seemed to be, by all accounts, an exceptional family, but Schmidt's obsession didn't seem to be waning. It seemed to be growing. Those who knew him felt that he got acceptance from the Callahans that he didn't get at home.
At the end of December two thousand and ten, Schmidt completed his term of probation, and almost a month later, on January twenty third, two thousand and eleven, mister Allahan left for several weeks to complete military training. Three days later, Alawna came home from school to what was supposed to be an empty house, which was a rare occurrence since Amanda or their mother were usually always home before her. Their mother had a medical procedure performed that day and was running just a few minutes late when Alaana arrived home from school and found the front door already open and someone inside the house making noise. Terrified, she soon realized that Schmidt was inside of the house by himself, in clear violation of all of the most important rules.
Alauna had been so scared, and her fear didn't wane when she realized it was her friend. When her mother and sister got home within five minutes, Alawna ran outside to tell them, and the woman was understandably angry, wanting to know how Schmidt had been able to get into the house in the first place. He maintained that the door had been left unlocked, but she knew it wasn't true because the dead bolt had to be locked with a key to close the door. She said he'd quietly collected his things and left, instructed that he wasn't allowed to be there without apparent present now and not before five pm on school days.
Although no one noticed at the time, it eventually became evident that Schmidt had used the time alone in the Callahan house that day to rob them, taking things that would later be recovered from his home. A set of house piece had gone missing, but showed up again after Allaana was murdered. Most shockingly, Schmidt was later determined to have stolen Allaanna's father's new gun that day, which was kept on his dresser covered by hats. A shotgun was also kept out in the open, although it wasn't touched.
Schmidt's attorney would later say that an episode of bullying at Grovetown High School had led to his getting beat up, and that he stole the gun for tection. The gun box was later located in his bedroom, with the instruction manual found in his bathroom. A box of mister Callahan's ammunition was also recovered five days later. On Monday, January thirty first, two thousand and eleven, Schmidt was carrying that gun as he approached Amanda Callahan as she waited at a Launa's bus stop.
Schmidt told her that he got grounded and couldn't come over for two weeks. She said he walked up Miles Road and backed toward his house, but investigators concluded that Schmidt likely lurked in the woods and waited for her to leave for the bus stop again. About twenty five minutes later, Amanda arrived back at the house with their brother and immediately saw Schmidt's sneakers deposited near the front door, keeping with Missus Callahan's rule that was second nature to frequent visitors. As she approached the wide open backslide door, she noticed a red substance on the floor and said that she thought it was spilled coolly, but then she saw that the chair Alana had been sitting in was knocked over.
As she slid the back door closed, she said that Schmidt entered through the front door, saying that a man had taken a Lana and he didn't know what to do. He claimed to have seen him running through the woods. Amanda testified that she got back into her dad's truck and started driving toward the back, though Schmidt had put his shoes back on as they went out the front door and run straight to Alanna's body on foot, reaching her before Amanda had even gotten the truck in motion. Amanda testified that Schmidt went right to Alanna and began to try to pull sticks from her hair, crying and saying that now he'd touched her and police would think that he'd been involved.
He never mentioned the fact that the girl he called a sister was covered in blood and likely fatally wounded. Eventually, Amanda told Schmidt to go turn her dad's truck off, at which time she later speculated he could have taken the opportunity to replace the missing house keys under the driver's floor mat where she found them several weeks after her sister's murder. He didn't need them anymore. Amanda called nine one one and started CPR while Schmidt took over the phone call.
He was the first person to suggest that it looked like she'd been shot. The three witnesses, a lawn As sister, brother, and Aaron Schmidt, were separated, and investigators soon to questioned the older two as witnesses. Three hours after police arrived at the scene, Schmidt maintained his original story of chasing after a man wearing all black that he said he saw running toward the Callahan property. The investigators continued to let him recollect the events of that afternoon, and as he went on, they had more and more questions.
Those at the crime scene were in constant contact with the detectives talking to Schmidt, and they soon related that the two k nines at the Callahan home hadn't caught the supposed trail that the man in black had traveled. They told him that under ten minutes was not enough time for all of the things that he claimed to happen to occur. His timeline just didn't line up with what they already knew to be true. He went on trying to convince them that he wasn't lying, and kept changing his story to fit with whatever questions the detectives threw at him.
His hands were then tested for gunshot residue. But more importantly and directly following the testing, the detectives returned to the room and asked him to take his shoes off. Immediately they could see that the tops of his socks had blood on them. Then, Schmidt said that he had actually seen the man shoot Alana and that he'd been forced to assist all the He was only there trying to stop whatever was about to happen.
He reiterated that he was there, but that he wasn't the only person there, and that he got along his blood on top of his socks when he was forced to drag her body to the woods against his will. Through tearless sobs, he admitted to discarding the weapon in the woods, conveniently providing a reason as to why his prince may be found on the gun. Detective disseminated this new information, and mister Callahan's gun was soon found in the woods behind their home. They reminded him that this family was now terrified that a nameless gunman was running around, and that if no one else was involved, he should tell them.
Then, Schmidt claimed to actually know the man in black and identified him as a neighbor who was often outside his home waiting to brandish a weapon at anyone who happened to buy. He next tried to say that it was one of the kids that had jumped him at school who was mad at Alanna and told Schmidt he was going to do something to scare her. He claimed that Alana and this other boy had argued in her house, and that the boy had grabbed mister Callahan's gun and shot Alana before taking off running down the trail toward his own home. They told him that whomever did this didn't leave the yard, that the dogs indicated that no one ran on to the property and back into the woods again.
Finally, after nearly two hours of questioning, Schmidt told detectives that when Amanda went to pick up the little brother from the bus stop at the end of the driveway, he went by the Callahans to tell Alanna that he was grounded. He said she grabbed her father's gun, saying something about how she wanted to learn how to use it. Schmidt said that he told her that it was a bad idea and that he wouldn't be any help because he didn't know how to use it. When Alana continued messing around with it, he said he took it, and as he tried to uncock it with it on the dining table, it fired, striking her in the back of the head and causing her to immediately slump over onto the floor, toppling the chair over with her.
The detectives questioned him a great deal about how the bullet hit the computer keyboard at a downward angle, but he stayed with his story of an accidental discharge from several feet away and from below the area where Alawana was actually shot. After consulting with CSI again and telling him that the scenario still didn't fit, Schmidt, who was about six feet tall at the time, admitted that he was standing within two feet of Alanna's back trying to unload the gun when it accidentally discharged. Her Prints weren't found on the gun, but Schmitzen only Schmidts were, a fact that enabled police to get him to finally say that he'd been the only one to both handle and fire it that day. He maintained that it was a lawna's idea to get the gun from her father's room and that he was in tremendous fear when he dragged her two hundred feet into the woods instead of calling for help.
At trial in February two thousand and twelve, the defense tried to say that Schmidt quote snap, but by the time closing arguments came around, their stance had changed to this was an accidental shooting. After a four day trial, during which the jury heard from several witnesses, including a Lawna's parents and sister, Anne, Schmidt's half sister slash guardian, and his fifteen year old great nephew slash best friend, he was found guilty on all charges. The state alleged that Alaana had gotten him in trouble for being the house alone and ruined the family's trust in him, and that days later he shot her for it. Schmidt's attorney tried for a voluntary mans latter.
However, the judge did not allow the lesser included offense because there was no evidence to support it. Instead, he instructed the jury to deliberate on the charges of malice murder because Schmidt stole the gun ahead of time, and felony murder in addition to weapons related charges. A twenty two day break between the guilty verdict and Schmidt's sentencing gave friends and family members a good bit of time to gather their thoughts to present in their statements, and everyone did except the killer himself. Lacy Aaron Schmidt didn't address his victim's loved ones or the court on his sentencing day.
While the judge made his final decision on the direction his young life would go, Person after person rose to speak on behalf of both victim and killer, one side begging for leniency while the other demanded no mercy be shown since he'd showed none to Alanna. Schmidt had shown little remorse or feelings during his proceedings and has never said that he planned the murder of Alonamy Callahan, though evidence suggests that this was likely. When his sentence of life without parole was announced, Schmidt showed no emotion.
All of his appeals have been exhausted, and his conviction and sentence were both upheld by the Georgia's Supreme Court in two thousand and fifteen, after he filed based on ineffective assistance of counsel following the US Supreme Court's decision in Montgomery versus Louisiana in two thousand and sixteen, Schmidt got a new attorney who filed for resentencing and saw right from the beginning that the Columbia County District Attorney withheld certain documents and evidence, although he couldn't tell exactly what he didn't have access to. Schmidt's request for resentencing was denied Lacier and Schmidt, who was twenty six years old in two thousand and twenty two and now stands six foot five inches tall, continues to serve his life without parole sentence and is currently incarcerated at Hayes State Prison in Tryon, Georgia.
He was on season one, episode one of A and E's show Kids Behind Bars when he was twenty two and said that he had been target shooting in the woods right before he entered the Callahans and was trying to unload the gun when it discharged, accidentally killing Alana. He said he tried to cover it up because he didn't want her mother to be mad at him.
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Transcript
Just so you know, this show is built scary stuff. So don't say I didn't warn you guys. I remember, Don't be scared m M episode one thirty four, Second Chance war Baby here with another episode of Murderous Miners Hi Everyone. August twenty six marks nine months since the Texico shooting in Garland, Texas, and suspected gunman Abele Acosta remains on the run.
In other news, just over a month ago, yet another case of a young teenneteen murder made national news when Brooke McLaughlin was found dead in tiny rural Mount Vernon, Maine, about eighty miles southwest of the city of Bangor. She'd only been fourteen years old for two weeks. The bubbly teen with curly red hair was known as being mature beyond her years and for loving animals, especially her own pets, which included a cat and a bearded dragon lizard that she adored. Brooke was in the seventh grade at Annacook Community Middle School in Redfield, Maine.
Reports tell us that around six pm on Monday July eighteenth, two thousand and twenty two, Brook's mother returned to their home on BlackBerry Road and discovered her daughter unresponsive, and the team was soon declared dead. Investigators quickly determined that Brooke had been murdered. Noticeably missing from the McLaughlin home was one of the family's cars, a red two thousand and ten Chevy im Paula, which was located roughly twenty miles away in the town of Wayne, Maine, the morning after Brook was killed. Within a few days, the public learned that a suspect had been arrested and that he lived in Wayne, where the stolen car had been recovered.
On Saturday, July twenty third, two thousand and twenty two, less than a week after Brooke's death, her boyfriend was arrested and charged with intentional or knowing murder for allegedly killing her two days after what was reportedly his fifteenth birthday. Although he has yet to be bound over to adult court, the Office of the Main Attorney General did identify him on July twenty fifth, two thousand and twenty two. Social media posts indicate the pair had been dating for a few months since February two thousand and twenty two. Some speculation has been offered by a source someone who identifies themselves as a family friend.
She told the son when interviewed that she believes that brooks murder was quote premeditated, and went on to speculate that quote from what I understand, it was their birthday and his family wasn't there to properly celebrate with him, so he did something to ensure that that day was never forgotten. Again, doubling down on the fact that quote that hasn't been confirmed, but it's one of those things being thrown around. As for the suspect, she said that quote, I only met him a handful of times. Neither he nor any of his family members have shown any type of aggression or anything like that.
I would have never dreamed that the kid could possibly do something like this. His family has reached out to us, and they're in just as much disbelief as everyone else. A manner of death beyond homicide has been kept out of the media, and the affidavit has been sealed because those involved are miners. The team made his initial appearance in the Juvenile Division of Waterville District Court on July twenty fifth, two thousand and twenty two, where he entered a plea of denial.
He continues to be held at the Long Creek Youth Development Center in South Portland, Maine, with his next court appearance scheduled for September fourteenth, two thousand and twenty two. This week on Murderous miners were looking at an earlier, yet similar case of middle school murder, the two thousand and eleven shooting death of fourteen year old Alauna may Callahan. Convicted of the crime was her neighbor and close friend, Lacy Aaron Schmidt, who was also fourteen. On the nine one one call, Schmidt told dispatchers that he lived behind a Laana and her family and had seen a man in black running through the woods in tiny rural Harlem, Georgia, named after the New York City borough and the birthplace of Oliver Hardy, one half of the famed classic comedic duo Laurel and Hardy.
Schmidt said that he'd left his home to see where the man was going, and stopped to check on his friend Alaana's house, where he saw blood on the carpet by the back door and the computer chair knocked over. He had then joined Alauna's older sister, Amanda, who had just returned from the end of the family's mile long driveway, where she had retrieved their younger brother from his bust. The trio began searching the property and quickly Schmidt went straight toward where he saw Alaana's body about twenty yards away from the house, where she lay face up in the woods. Drag marks from the back door provided a bloodsmeared path that could be followed directly to her a.
Lawna's sister called nine to one one and emotionally tried to explain that she'd only been gone for a few minutes, having left her sister at the computer checking her Facebook page. When she returned from the bus stop with their younger brother no more than four to five minutes later. Amanda said that she saw quote red stuff in their front yard and near the computer area. When she got inside the house, fourteen year old Alawna Callahan was nowhere to be found.
The Callahan parents and the younger four of their six children moved into their new home on Miles Road when the two thousand and ninth school year ended in May two ten. Alanna was the fourth child and seemed to hold so much hope for her family. The eighth grader at Harlem Middle School was academically inclined and wanted to attend Harvard and or Yale, and one day become an attorney. According to Alanna's father's later testimony, they met Lacey Aaron Schmidt around March two thousand and ten, after they purchased their home on Miles Road and started preparing it for their upcoming move in.
Alanna and her younger brothers met him down at a creek in the woods and just brought him home one day. Mister Callahan testified that Schmidt just started showing up and hanging around, playing with the kids, and often helping him with yardwork and other projects. Alana's mother testified later that he was extremely close with her kids and that the only thing she found off putting was that whenever he rode four wheelers with her nine and ten year old sons, her boys would always come back injured. Although Alana was Schmidt's girlfriend for about three days after they first met, her youth pastor from church advised her that she was too young, and the teens reverted back to being just friends.
Alaana's mother said that for the first couple of months, everything was fine with the friendships, and Schmidt came over after school almost every day, and on weekends. They even took him along on trips and vacations. He was treated like family. As far as Schmidt's actual family is concerned, their history is both complicated and controversial, and all of the following information comes directly from the later testimony of his half sister born more than thirty nine years before him, and another sister who was three years older than him.
Being his sisters, they had deep insight into Schmidt's childhood, and through their testimonies we learned that after divorce the older sister's mother, their father married another woman who had a daughter that he sexually abused. When that daughter was thirteen years old, she gave birth to Schmidt's older brother. No authorities were notified. Five years later she had a second child with her stepfather, a daughter, and a little over three years later, Lacy Aaron Schmidt, was born.
When his mother was twenty one years old, they had a fourth child as well, all the while child's services were never called and neither were police. Their father was ultimately imprisoned for raping a fifty six year old woman in a care facility, and Schmidt was not raised by him, nor did he live with him as a child. Instead, by the age of five, he and his siblings were living with their much older half sister when Schmidt was five years old. The older half sister kept her four half siblings for what was meant to be two to three weeks as their mother quote found them a decent place to stay, and during that time, Schmidt's older sister, who was eight, described episodes of sexual abuse facilitated by their own mother.
In an interview as an adult, she recalled her mother leaving bars with men just so they would have a couch to sleep on for the night. She said that her mother left them unattended with some of these men, which led to them being repeatedly sexually abused. At this point, Child's Services were finally alerted and the four children were formally placed in their half sister's care. Not everything was smooth sailing there, though, Either and his sister described at his sentencing how they had been placed in another volatile household.
She described a new guardian who took a quote biblical spare the rod spoiled the child approach to parenting, which ultimately led to Child's Services ordering several members of the family into anger management classes. Schmidt and one sister were removed from their half sister's home for a time and she was adopted. However, he was returned to the same house Child's Services had removed him from. Then there were the child molestation accusations brought against Schmidt.
Just prior to mid two thousand and nine. His half sister, slash Guardian, testified that following an infancy and early childhood rife with abuse, neglect, trauma, and sexual molestation, a young relative reported that Schmidt had touched him inappropriately over his pajamas. She testified that she made sure that the child's parents called the authorities and that Schmidt was held accountable for his actions. Consequently, Schmidt was placed on probation and required to complete an eighteen month program for juvenile sexual offenders, and when he was halfway through his probation period, the Callahans moved Dawn to the neighboring property.
The family was well aware of Schmidt's molestation charge, and the younger boys especially were put on high alert to watch for any behavior that was inappropriate or made them uncomfortable. According to Alaana's father, though that never happened, and they grew to trust him and grew to love him, offering him what mister Callahan referred to as quote a second chance. His guardian testified that her little brother called a Lawna's parents mom and dad. Other witnesses testified about the relationship, using words like idolized and obsessed.
An Schmidt's Facebook profile was even under the name Aaron Callahan. He wanted to be an actual part of this family, and there had even been talks of the Callahan's legally adopting him, although no moves had been made to do it. At his actual house on the other side of Miles Road, he and his siblings were loved, but also not fully accepted. According to Schmidt's sister, who was three years older than him, things that his home were getting rocky because, as his guardian later testified, his desire to be a Callahan was slowly affecting his desire to mind her.
He didn't respect her authority, and since Child's Services had forbid her from any further quote chastising, which included physical disciplining, her only recourse was to resort to grounding him as a means to create some distance between Schmidt and the Callahan's influence. It was a lovely influence, as the Callahans seemed to be, by all accounts, an exceptional family, but Schmidt's obsession didn't seem to be waning. It seemed to be growing. Those who knew him felt that he got acceptance from the Callahans that he didn't get at home.
At the end of December two thousand and ten, Schmidt completed his term of probation, and almost a month later, on January twenty third, two thousand and eleven, mister Allahan left for several weeks to complete military training. Three days later, Alawna came home from school to what was supposed to be an empty house, which was a rare occurrence since Amanda or their mother were usually always home before her. Their mother had a medical procedure performed that day and was running just a few minutes late when Alaana arrived home from school and found the front door already open and someone inside the house making noise. Terrified, she soon realized that Schmidt was inside of the house by himself, in clear violation of all of the most important rules.
Alauna had been so scared, and her fear didn't wane when she realized it was her friend. When her mother and sister got home within five minutes, Alawna ran outside to tell them, and the woman was understandably angry, wanting to know how Schmidt had been able to get into the house in the first place. He maintained that the door had been left unlocked, but she knew it wasn't true because the dead bolt had to be locked with a key to close the door. She said he'd quietly collected his things and left, instructed that he wasn't allowed to be there without apparent present now and not before five pm on school days.
Although no one noticed at the time, it eventually became evident that Schmidt had used the time alone in the Callahan house that day to rob them, taking things that would later be recovered from his home. A set of house piece had gone missing, but showed up again after Allaana was murdered. Most shockingly, Schmidt was later determined to have stolen Allaanna's father's new gun that day, which was kept on his dresser covered by hats. A shotgun was also kept out in the open, although it wasn't touched.
Schmidt's attorney would later say that an episode of bullying at Grovetown High School had led to his getting beat up, and that he stole the gun for tection. The gun box was later located in his bedroom, with the instruction manual found in his bathroom. A box of mister Callahan's ammunition was also recovered five days later. On Monday, January thirty first, two thousand and eleven, Schmidt was carrying that gun as he approached Amanda Callahan as she waited at a Launa's bus stop.
Schmidt told her that he got grounded and couldn't come over for two weeks. She said he walked up Miles Road and backed toward his house, but investigators concluded that Schmidt likely lurked in the woods and waited for her to leave for the bus stop again. About twenty five minutes later, Amanda arrived back at the house with their brother and immediately saw Schmidt's sneakers deposited near the front door, keeping with Missus Callahan's rule that was second nature to frequent visitors. As she approached the wide open backslide door, she noticed a red substance on the floor and said that she thought it was spilled coolly, but then she saw that the chair Alana had been sitting in was knocked over.
As she slid the back door closed, she said that Schmidt entered through the front door, saying that a man had taken a Lana and he didn't know what to do. He claimed to have seen him running through the woods. Amanda testified that she got back into her dad's truck and started driving toward the back, though Schmidt had put his shoes back on as they went out the front door and run straight to Alanna's body on foot, reaching her before Amanda had even gotten the truck in motion. Amanda testified that Schmidt went right to Alanna and began to try to pull sticks from her hair, crying and saying that now he'd touched her and police would think that he'd been involved.
He never mentioned the fact that the girl he called a sister was covered in blood and likely fatally wounded. Eventually, Amanda told Schmidt to go turn her dad's truck off, at which time she later speculated he could have taken the opportunity to replace the missing house keys under the driver's floor mat where she found them several weeks after her sister's murder. He didn't need them anymore. Amanda called nine one one and started CPR while Schmidt took over the phone call.
He was the first person to suggest that it looked like she'd been shot. The three witnesses, a lawn As sister, brother, and Aaron Schmidt, were separated, and investigators soon to questioned the older two as witnesses. Three hours after police arrived at the scene, Schmidt maintained his original story of chasing after a man wearing all black that he said he saw running toward the Callahan property. The investigators continued to let him recollect the events of that afternoon, and as he went on, they had more and more questions.
Those at the crime scene were in constant contact with the detectives talking to Schmidt, and they soon related that the two k nines at the Callahan home hadn't caught the supposed trail that the man in black had traveled. They told him that under ten minutes was not enough time for all of the things that he claimed to happen to occur. His timeline just didn't line up with what they already knew to be true. He went on trying to convince them that he wasn't lying, and kept changing his story to fit with whatever questions the detectives threw at him.
His hands were then tested for gunshot residue. But more importantly and directly following the testing, the detectives returned to the room and asked him to take his shoes off. Immediately they could see that the tops of his socks had blood on them. Then, Schmidt said that he had actually seen the man shoot Alana and that he'd been forced to assist all the He was only there trying to stop whatever was about to happen.
He reiterated that he was there, but that he wasn't the only person there, and that he got along his blood on top of his socks when he was forced to drag her body to the woods against his will. Through tearless sobs, he admitted to discarding the weapon in the woods, conveniently providing a reason as to why his prince may be found on the gun. Detective disseminated this new information, and mister Callahan's gun was soon found in the woods behind their home. They reminded him that this family was now terrified that a nameless gunman was running around, and that if no one else was involved, he should tell them.
Then, Schmidt claimed to actually know the man in black and identified him as a neighbor who was often outside his home waiting to brandish a weapon at anyone who happened to buy. He next tried to say that it was one of the kids that had jumped him at school who was mad at Alanna and told Schmidt he was going to do something to scare her. He claimed that Alana and this other boy had argued in her house, and that the boy had grabbed mister Callahan's gun and shot Alana before taking off running down the trail toward his own home. They told him that whomever did this didn't leave the yard, that the dogs indicated that no one ran on to the property and back into the woods again.
Finally, after nearly two hours of questioning, Schmidt told detectives that when Amanda went to pick up the little brother from the bus stop at the end of the driveway, he went by the Callahans to tell Alanna that he was grounded. He said she grabbed her father's gun, saying something about how she wanted to learn how to use it. Schmidt said that he told her that it was a bad idea and that he wouldn't be any help because he didn't know how to use it. When Alana continued messing around with it, he said he took it, and as he tried to uncock it with it on the dining table, it fired, striking her in the back of the head and causing her to immediately slump over onto the floor, toppling the chair over with her.
The detectives questioned him a great deal about how the bullet hit the computer keyboard at a downward angle, but he stayed with his story of an accidental discharge from several feet away and from below the area where Alawana was actually shot. After consulting with CSI again and telling him that the scenario still didn't fit, Schmidt, who was about six feet tall at the time, admitted that he was standing within two feet of Alanna's back trying to unload the gun when it accidentally discharged. Her Prints weren't found on the gun, but Schmitzen only Schmidts were, a fact that enabled police to get him to finally say that he'd been the only one to both handle and fire it that day. He maintained that it was a lawna's idea to get the gun from her father's room and that he was in tremendous fear when he dragged her two hundred feet into the woods instead of calling for help.
At trial in February two thousand and twelve, the defense tried to say that Schmidt quote snap, but by the time closing arguments came around, their stance had changed to this was an accidental shooting. After a four day trial, during which the jury heard from several witnesses, including a Lawna's parents and sister, Anne, Schmidt's half sister slash guardian, and his fifteen year old great nephew slash best friend, he was found guilty on all charges. The state alleged that Alaana had gotten him in trouble for being the house alone and ruined the family's trust in him, and that days later he shot her for it. Schmidt's attorney tried for a voluntary mans latter.
However, the judge did not allow the lesser included offense because there was no evidence to support it. Instead, he instructed the jury to deliberate on the charges of malice murder because Schmidt stole the gun ahead of time, and felony murder in addition to weapons related charges. A twenty two day break between the guilty verdict and Schmidt's sentencing gave friends and family members a good bit of time to gather their thoughts to present in their statements, and everyone did except the killer himself. Lacy Aaron Schmidt didn't address his victim's loved ones or the court on his sentencing day.
While the judge made his final decision on the direction his young life would go, Person after person rose to speak on behalf of both victim and killer, one side begging for leniency while the other demanded no mercy be shown since he'd showed none to Alanna. Schmidt had shown little remorse or feelings during his proceedings and has never said that he planned the murder of Alonamy Callahan, though evidence suggests that this was likely. When his sentence of life without parole was announced, Schmidt showed no emotion. All of his appeals have been exhausted, and his conviction and sentence were both upheld by the Georgia's Supreme Court in two thousand and fifteen, after he filed based on ineffective assistance of counsel following the US Supreme Court's decision in Montgomery versus Louisiana in two thousand and sixteen, Schmidt got a new attorney who filed for resentencing and saw right from the beginning that the Columbia County District Attorney withheld certain documents and evidence, although he couldn't tell exactly what he didn't have access to.
Schmidt's request for resentencing was denied Lacier and Schmidt, who was twenty six years old in two thousand and twenty two and now stands six foot five inches tall, continues to serve his life without parole sentence and is currently incarcerated at Hayes State Prison in Tryon, Georgia. He was on season one, episode one of A and E's show Kids Behind Bars when he was twenty two and said that he had been target shooting in the woods right before he entered the Callahans and was trying to unload the gun when it discharged, accidentally killing Alana. He said he tried to cover it up because he didn't want her mother to be mad at him.