August 29, 2022 • 26 mins
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
For sources, visit: https://murderousminors.onpodium.com/episodes/134-second-chance-lacy-aaron-schmidt-318
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/murderous-minors--2964579/support.
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
For sources, visit: https://murderousminors.onpodium.com/episodes/134-second-chance-lacy-aaron-schmidt-318
Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/murderous-minors--2964579/support.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
Just so you know, this showis built scary stuff. So don't say
I didn't warn you guys. Iremember, Don't be scared m M episode
(01:02):
one thirty four, Second Chance warBaby here with another episode of Murderous Miners
Hi Everyone. August twenty six marksnine months since the Texico shooting in Garland,
Texas, and suspected gunman Abele Acostaremains on the run. In other
(01:22):
news, just over a month ago, yet another case of a young teenneteen
murder made national news when Brooke McLaughlinwas found dead in tiny rural Mount Vernon,
Maine, about eighty miles southwest ofthe city of Bangor. She'd only
been fourteen years old for two weeks. The bubbly teen with curly red hair
(01:46):
was known as being mature beyond heryears and for loving animals, especially her
own pets, which included a catand a bearded dragon lizard that she adored.
Brooke was in the seventh grade atAnnacook Community Middle School in Redfield,
Maine. Reports tell us that aroundsix pm on Monday July eighteenth, two
(02:07):
thousand and twenty two, Brook's motherreturned to their home on BlackBerry Road and
discovered her daughter unresponsive, and theteam 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 redtwo thousand and ten Chevy im Paula,
(02:31):
which was located roughly twenty miles awayin the town of Wayne, Maine,
the morning after Brook was killed.Within a few days, the public learned
that a suspect had been arrested andthat he lived in Wayne, where the
stolen car had been recovered. OnSaturday, July twenty third, two thousand
(02:51):
and twenty two, less than aweek after Brooke's death, her boyfriend was
arrested and charged with intentional or knowingmurder 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 ofthe Main Attorney General did identify him on
(03:14):
July twenty fifth, two thousand andtwenty two. Social media posts indicate the
pair had been dating for a fewmonths since February two thousand and twenty two.
Some speculation has been offered by asource someone who identifies themselves as a
family friend. She told the sonwhen interviewed that she believes that brooks murder
(03:38):
was quote premeditated, and went onto speculate that quote from what I understand,
it was their birthday and his familywasn't there to properly celebrate with him,
so he did something to ensure thatthat day was never forgotten. Again,
doubling down on the fact that quotethat hasn't been confirmed, but it's
one of those things being thrown around. As for the suspect, she said
(04:01):
that quote, I only met hima handful of times. Neither he nor
any of his family members have shownany type of aggression or anything like that.
I would have never dreamed that thekid 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 mannerof death beyond homicide has been kept out
(04:26):
of the media, and the affidavithas been sealed because those involved are miners.
The team made his initial appearance inthe Juvenile Division of Waterville District Court
on July twenty fifth, two thousandand twenty two, where he entered a
plea of denial. He continues tobe held at the Long Creek Youth Development
(04:46):
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 caseof middle school murder, the two thousand
and eleven shooting death of fourteen yearold Alauna may Callahan. Convicted of the
(05:09):
crime was her neighbor and close friend, Lacy Aaron Schmidt, who was also
fourteen. On the nine one onecall, Schmidt told dispatchers that he lived
behind a Laana and her family andhad 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
(05:34):
duo Laurel and Hardy. Schmidt saidthat he'd left his home to see where
the man was going, and stoppedto check on his friend Alaana's house,
where he saw blood on the carpetby the back door and the computer chair
knocked over. He had then joinedAlauna's older sister, Amanda, who had
just returned from the end of thefamily's mile long driveway, where she had
(05:57):
retrieved their younger brother from his bust. The trio began searching the property and
quickly Schmidt went straight toward where hesaw Alaana's body about twenty yards away from
the house, where she lay faceup in the woods. Drag marks from
the back door provided a bloodsmeared paththat could be followed directly to her a.
(06:18):
Lawna's sister called nine to one oneand 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 shereturned from the bus stop with their younger
brother no more than four to fiveminutes later. Amanda said that she saw
(06:38):
quote red stuff in their front yardand near the computer area. When she
got inside the house, fourteen yearold Alawna Callahan was nowhere to be found.
The Callahan parents and the younger fourof their six children moved into their
new home on Miles Road when thetwo thousand and ninth school year ended in
(06:59):
May two ten. Alanna was thefourth child and seemed to hold so much
hope for her family. The eighthgrader at Harlem Middle School was academically inclined
and wanted to attend Harvard and orYale, and one day become an attorney.
According to Alanna's father's later testimony,they met Lacey Aaron Schmidt around March
(07:21):
two thousand and ten, after theypurchased 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 woodsand just brought him home one day.
Mister Callahan testified that Schmidt just startedshowing up and hanging around, playing with
(07:42):
the kids, and often helping himwith yardwork and other projects. Alana's mother
testified later that he was extremely closewith her kids and that the only thing
she found off putting was that wheneverhe rode four wheelers with her nine and
ten year old sons, her boyswould always come back injured. Although Alana
was Schmidt's girlfriend for about three daysafter they first met, her youth pastor
(08:07):
from church advised her that she wastoo young, and the teens reverted back
to being just friends. Alaana's mothersaid 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
(08:33):
concerned, their history is both complicatedand controversial, and all of the following
information comes directly from the later testimonyof his half sister born more than thirty
nine years before him, and anothersister who was three years older than him.
Being his sisters, they had deepinsight into Schmidt's childhood, and through
(08:56):
their testimonies we learned that after divorcethe older sister's mother, their father married
another woman who had a daughter thathe sexually abused. When that daughter was
thirteen years old, she gave birthto Schmidt's older brother. No authorities were
notified. Five years later she hada second child with her stepfather, a
(09:18):
daughter, and a little over threeyears later, Lacy Aaron Schmidt, was
born. When his mother was twentyone years old, they had a fourth
child as well, all the whilechild's services were never called and neither were
police. Their father was ultimately imprisonedfor raping a fifty six year old woman
in a care facility, and Schmidtwas not raised by him, nor did
(09:43):
he live with him as a child. Instead, by the age of five,
he and his siblings were living withtheir much older half sister when Schmidt
was five years old. The olderhalf sister kept her four half siblings for
what was meant to be two tothree weeks as their mother quote found them
a decent place to stay, andduring that time, Schmidt's older sister,
(10:05):
who was eight, described episodes ofsexual 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 couchto sleep on for the night. She
said that her mother left them unattendedwith some of these men, which led
to them being repeatedly sexually abused.At this point, Child's Services were finally
(10:31):
alerted and the four children were formallyplaced 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 inanother volatile household. She described a new
guardian who took a quote biblical sparethe rod spoiled the child approach to parenting,
(10:54):
which ultimately led to Child's Services orderingseveral members of the family into anger
management classes. Schmidt and one sisterwere 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
(11:16):
brought against Schmidt. Just prior tomid two thousand and nine. His half
sister, slash Guardian, testified thatfollowing an infancy and early childhood rife with
abuse, neglect, trauma, andsexual molestation, a young relative reported that
Schmidt had touched him inappropriately over hispajamas. She testified that she made sure
(11:39):
that the child's parents called the authoritiesand that Schmidt was held accountable for his
actions. Consequently, Schmidt was placedon 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 tothe neighboring property. The family was well
(12:03):
aware of Schmidt's molestation charge, andthe younger boys especially were put on high
alert to watch for any behavior thatwas inappropriate or made them uncomfortable. According
to Alaana's father, though that neverhappened, and they grew to trust him
and grew to love him, offeringhim what mister Callahan referred to as quote
a second chance. His guardian testifiedthat her little brother called a Lawna's parents
(12:28):
mom and dad. Other witnesses testifiedabout the relationship, using words like idolized
and obsessed. An Schmidt's Facebook profilewas even under the name Aaron Callahan.
He wanted to be an actual partof this family, and there had even
been talks of the Callahan's legally adoptinghim, although no moves had been made
to do it. At his actualhouse on the other side of Miles Road,
(12:54):
he and his siblings were loved,but also not fully accepted. According
to Schmidt's sister, who was threeyears older than him, things that his
home were getting rocky because, ashis guardian later testified, his desire to
be a Callahan was slowly affecting hisdesire to mind her. He didn't respect
her authority, and since Child's Serviceshad forbid her from any further quote chastising,
(13:20):
which included physical disciplining, her onlyrecourse was to resort to grounding him
as a means to create some distancebetween Schmidt and the Callahan's influence. It
was a lovely influence, as theCallahans seemed to be, by all accounts,
an exceptional family, but Schmidt's obsessiondidn't seem to be waning. It
(13:41):
seemed to be growing. Those whoknew him felt that he got acceptance from
the Callahans that he didn't get athome. At the end of December two
thousand and ten, Schmidt completed histerm 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
(14:05):
from school to what was supposed tobe an empty house, which was a
rare occurrence since Amanda or their motherwere usually always home before her. Their
mother had a medical procedure performed thatday and was running just a few minutes
late when Alaana arrived home from schooland found the front door already open and
someone inside the house making noise.Terrified, she soon realized that Schmidt was
(14:31):
inside of the house by himself,in clear violation of all of the most
important rules. Alauna had been soscared, 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 totell them, and the woman was understandably
angry, wanting to know how Schmidthad been able to get into the house
(14:54):
in the first place. He maintainedthat the door had been left unlocked,
but she knew it wasn't true becausethe 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 allowedto be there without apparent present now and
not before five pm on school days. Although no one noticed at the time,
(15:18):
it eventually became evident that Schmidt hadused 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 housepiece had gone missing, but showed up
again after Allaana was murdered. Mostshockingly, Schmidt was later determined to have
(15:39):
stolen Allaanna's father's new gun that day, which was kept on his dresser covered
by hats. A shotgun was alsokept out in the open, although it
wasn't touched. Schmidt's attorney would latersay that an episode of bullying at Grovetown
High School had led to his gettingbeat up, and that he stole the
gun for tection. The gun boxwas later located in his bedroom, with
(16:03):
the instruction manual found in his bathroom. A box of mister Callahan's ammunition was
also recovered five days later. OnMonday, January thirty first, two thousand
and eleven, Schmidt was carrying thatgun as he approached Amanda Callahan as she
waited at a Launa's bus stop.Schmidt told her that he got grounded and
(16:26):
couldn't come over for two weeks.She said he walked up Miles Road and
backed toward his house, but investigatorsconcluded that Schmidt likely lurked in the woods
and waited for her to leave forthe bus stop again. About twenty five
minutes later, Amanda arrived back atthe house with their brother and immediately saw
(16:48):
Schmidt's sneakers deposited near the front door, keeping with Missus Callahan's rule that was
second nature to frequent visitors. Asshe approached the wide open backslide door,
she noticed a red substance on thefloor and said that she thought it was
spilled coolly, but then she sawthat the chair Alana had been sitting in
(17:08):
was knocked over. As she slidthe 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 thatshe got back into her dad's truck and
started driving toward the back, thoughSchmidt had put his shoes back on as
(17:32):
they went out the front door andrun straight to Alanna's body on foot,
reaching her before Amanda had even gottenthe truck in motion. Amanda testified that
Schmidt went right to Alanna and beganto try to pull sticks from her hair,
crying and saying that now he'd touchedher and police would think that he'd
been involved. He never mentioned thefact that the girl he called a sister
(17:56):
was covered in blood and likely fatallywounded. 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 themissing house keys under the driver's floor mat
where she found them several weeks afterher sister's murder. He didn't need them
(18:17):
anymore. Amanda called nine one oneand started CPR while Schmidt took over the
phone call. He was the firstperson to suggest that it looked like she'd
been shot. The three witnesses,a lawn As sister, brother, and
Aaron Schmidt, were separated, andinvestigators soon to questioned the older two as
witnesses. Three hours after police arrivedat the scene, Schmidt maintained his original
(18:44):
story of chasing after a man wearingall black that he said he saw running
toward the Callahan property. The investigatorscontinued to let him recollect the events of
that afternoon, and as he wenton, they had more and more questions.
Those at the crime scene were inconstant contact with the detectives talking to
(19:06):
Schmidt, and they soon related thatthe two k nines at the Callahan home
hadn't caught the supposed trail that theman in black had traveled. They told
him that under ten minutes was notenough 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
(19:30):
he wasn't lying, and kept changinghis story to fit with whatever questions the
detectives threw at him. His handswere 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
(19:51):
of his socks had blood on them. Then, Schmidt said that he had
actually seen the man shoot Alana andthat he'd been forced to assist all the
He was only there trying to stopwhatever was about to happen. He reiterated
that he was there, but thathe wasn't the only person there, and
that he got along his blood ontop of his socks when he was forced
(20:11):
to drag her body to the woodsagainst his will. Through tearless sobs,
he admitted to discarding the weapon inthe woods, conveniently providing a reason as
to why his prince may be foundon the gun. Detective disseminated this new
information, and mister Callahan's gun wassoon found in the woods behind their home.
(20:33):
They reminded him that this family wasnow terrified that a nameless gunman was
running around, and that if noone else was involved, he should tell
them. Then, Schmidt claimed toactually know the man in black and identified
him as a neighbor who was oftenoutside his home waiting to brandish a weapon
at anyone who happened to buy.He next tried to say that it was
(20:56):
one of the kids that had jumpedhim at school who was mad at Alanna
and told Schmidt he was going todo something to scare her. He claimed
that Alana and this other boy hadargued in her house, and that the
boy had grabbed mister Callahan's gun andshot Alana before taking off running down the
trail toward his own home. Theytold him that whomever did this didn't leave
(21:21):
the yard, that the dogs indicatedthat 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 wentto pick up the little brother from
the bus stop at the end ofthe driveway, he went by the Callahans
to tell Alanna that he was grounded. He said she grabbed her father's gun,
(21:45):
saying something about how she wanted tolearn how to use it. Schmidt
said that he told her that itwas a bad idea and that he wouldn't
be any help because he didn't knowhow to use it. When Alana continued
messing around with it, he saidhe took it, and as he tried
to uncock it with it on thedining table, it fired, striking her
(22:06):
in the back of the head andcausing her to immediately slump over onto the
floor, toppling the chair over withher. The detectives questioned him a great
deal about how the bullet hit thecomputer keyboard at a downward angle, but
he stayed with his story of anaccidental discharge from several feet away and from
(22:26):
below the area where Alawana was actuallyshot. After consulting with CSI again and
telling him that the scenario still didn'tfit, Schmidt, who was about six
feet tall at the time, admittedthat he was standing within two feet of
Alanna's back trying to unload the gunwhen it accidentally discharged. Her Prints weren't
(22:48):
found on the gun, but Schmitzenonly Schmidts were, a fact that enabled
police to get him to finally saythat 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'sroom and that he was in tremendous fear
when he dragged her two hundred feetinto the woods instead of calling for help.
(23:14):
At trial in February two thousand andtwelve, the defense tried to say
that Schmidt quote snap, but bythe time closing arguments came around, their
stance had changed to this was anaccidental shooting. After a four day trial,
during which the jury heard from severalwitnesses, including a Lawna's parents and
(23:34):
sister, Anne, Schmidt's half sisterslash guardian, and his fifteen year old
great nephew slash best friend, hewas found guilty on all charges. The
state alleged that Alaana had gotten himin trouble for being the house alone and
ruined the family's trust in him,and that days later he shot her for
(23:56):
it. Schmidt's attorney tried for avoluntary mans latter. However, the judge
did not allow the lesser included offensebecause there was no evidence to support it.
Instead, he instructed the jury todeliberate on the charges of malice murder
because Schmidt stole the gun ahead oftime, and felony murder in addition to
(24:17):
weapons related charges. A twenty twoday break between the guilty verdict and Schmidt's
sentencing gave friends and family members agood bit of time to gather their thoughts
to present in their statements, andeveryone did except the killer himself. Lacy
Aaron Schmidt didn't address his victim's lovedones or the court on his sentencing day.
(24:38):
While the judge made his final decisionon the direction his young life would
go, Person after person rose tospeak on behalf of both victim and killer,
one side begging for leniency while theother demanded no mercy be shown since
he'd showed none to Alanna. Schmidthad shown little remorse or feelings during his
(25:03):
proceedings and has never said that heplanned 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 bothupheld by the Georgia's Supreme Court in two
(25:26):
thousand and fifteen, after he filedbased on ineffective assistance of counsel following the
US Supreme Court's decision in Montgomery versusLouisiana in two thousand and sixteen, Schmidt
got a new attorney who filed forresentencing and saw right from the beginning that
the Columbia County District Attorney withheld certaindocuments and evidence, although he couldn't tell
(25:51):
exactly what he didn't have access to. Schmidt's request for resentencing was denied Lacier
and Schmidt, who was twenty sixyears old in two thousand and twenty two
and now stands six foot five inchestall, continues to serve his life without
parole sentence and is currently incarcerated atHayes State Prison in Tryon, Georgia.
(26:15):
He was on season one, episodeone of A and E's show Kids Behind
Bars when he was twenty two andsaid that he had been target shooting in
the woods right before he entered theCallahans and was trying to unload the gun
when it discharged, accidentally killing Alana. He said he tried to cover it
(26:36):
up because he didn't want her motherto be mad at him.
Just so you know, this showis built scary stuff. So don't say
I didn't warn you guys. Iremember, Don't be scared m M episode
(01:02):
one thirty four, Second Chance warBaby here with another episode of Murderous Miners
Hi Everyone. August twenty six marksnine months since the Texico shooting in Garland,
Texas, and suspected gunman Abele Acostaremains on the run. In other
(01:22):
news, just over a month ago, yet another case of a young teenneteen
murder made national news when Brooke McLaughlinwas found dead in tiny rural Mount Vernon,
Maine, about eighty miles southwest ofthe city of Bangor. She'd only
been fourteen years old for two weeks. The bubbly teen with curly red hair
(01:46):
was known as being mature beyond heryears and for loving animals, especially her
own pets, which included a catand a bearded dragon lizard that she adored.
Brooke was in the seventh grade atAnnacook Community Middle School in Redfield,
Maine. Reports tell us that aroundsix pm on Monday July eighteenth, two
(02:07):
thousand and twenty two, Brook's motherreturned to their home on BlackBerry Road and
discovered her daughter unresponsive, and theteam 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 redtwo thousand and ten Chevy im Paula,
(02:31):
which was located roughly twenty miles awayin the town of Wayne, Maine,
the morning after Brook was killed.Within a few days, the public learned
that a suspect had been arrested andthat he lived in Wayne, where the
stolen car had been recovered. OnSaturday, July twenty third, two thousand
(02:51):
and twenty two, less than aweek after Brooke's death, her boyfriend was
arrested and charged with intentional or knowingmurder 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 ofthe Main Attorney General did identify him on
(03:14):
July twenty fifth, two thousand andtwenty two. Social media posts indicate the
pair had been dating for a fewmonths since February two thousand and twenty two.
Some speculation has been offered by asource someone who identifies themselves as a
family friend. She told the sonwhen interviewed that she believes that brooks murder
(03:38):
was quote premeditated, and went onto speculate that quote from what I understand,
it was their birthday and his familywasn't there to properly celebrate with him,
so he did something to ensure thatthat day was never forgotten. Again,
doubling down on the fact that quotethat hasn't been confirmed, but it's
one of those things being thrown around. As for the suspect, she said
(04:01):
that quote, I only met hima handful of times. Neither he nor
any of his family members have shownany type of aggression or anything like that.
I would have never dreamed that thekid 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 mannerof death beyond homicide has been kept out
(04:26):
of the media, and the affidavithas been sealed because those involved are miners.
The team made his initial appearance inthe Juvenile Division of Waterville District Court
on July twenty fifth, two thousandand twenty two, where he entered a
plea of denial. He continues tobe held at the Long Creek Youth Development
(04:46):
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 caseof middle school murder, the two thousand
and eleven shooting death of fourteen yearold Alauna may Callahan. Convicted of the
(05:09):
crime was her neighbor and close friend, Lacy Aaron Schmidt, who was also
fourteen. On the nine one onecall, Schmidt told dispatchers that he lived
behind a Laana and her family andhad 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
(05:34):
duo Laurel and Hardy. Schmidt saidthat he'd left his home to see where
the man was going, and stoppedto check on his friend Alaana's house,
where he saw blood on the carpetby the back door and the computer chair
knocked over. He had then joinedAlauna's older sister, Amanda, who had
just returned from the end of thefamily's mile long driveway, where she had
(05:57):
retrieved their younger brother from his bust. The trio began searching the property and
quickly Schmidt went straight toward where hesaw Alaana's body about twenty yards away from
the house, where she lay faceup in the woods. Drag marks from
the back door provided a bloodsmeared paththat could be followed directly to her a.
(06:18):
Lawna's sister called nine to one oneand 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 shereturned from the bus stop with their younger
brother no more than four to fiveminutes later. Amanda said that she saw
(06:38):
quote red stuff in their front yardand near the computer area. When she
got inside the house, fourteen yearold Alawna Callahan was nowhere to be found.
The Callahan parents and the younger fourof their six children moved into their
new home on Miles Road when thetwo thousand and ninth school year ended in
(06:59):
May two ten. Alanna was thefourth child and seemed to hold so much
hope for her family. The eighthgrader at Harlem Middle School was academically inclined
and wanted to attend Harvard and orYale, and one day become an attorney.
According to Alanna's father's later testimony,they met Lacey Aaron Schmidt around March
(07:21):
two thousand and ten, after theypurchased 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 woodsand just brought him home one day.
Mister Callahan testified that Schmidt just startedshowing up and hanging around, playing with
(07:42):
the kids, and often helping himwith yardwork and other projects. Alana's mother
testified later that he was extremely closewith her kids and that the only thing
she found off putting was that wheneverhe rode four wheelers with her nine and
ten year old sons, her boyswould always come back injured. Although Alana
was Schmidt's girlfriend for about three daysafter they first met, her youth pastor
(08:07):
from church advised her that she wastoo young, and the teens reverted back
to being just friends. Alaana's mothersaid 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
(08:33):
concerned, their history is both complicatedand controversial, and all of the following
information comes directly from the later testimonyof his half sister born more than thirty
nine years before him, and anothersister who was three years older than him.
Being his sisters, they had deepinsight into Schmidt's childhood, and through
(08:56):
their testimonies we learned that after divorcethe older sister's mother, their father married
another woman who had a daughter thathe sexually abused. When that daughter was
thirteen years old, she gave birthto Schmidt's older brother. No authorities were
notified. Five years later she hada second child with her stepfather, a
(09:18):
daughter, and a little over threeyears later, Lacy Aaron Schmidt, was
born. When his mother was twentyone years old, they had a fourth
child as well, all the whilechild's services were never called and neither were
police. Their father was ultimately imprisonedfor raping a fifty six year old woman
in a care facility, and Schmidtwas not raised by him, nor did
(09:43):
he live with him as a child. Instead, by the age of five,
he and his siblings were living withtheir much older half sister when Schmidt
was five years old. The olderhalf sister kept her four half siblings for
what was meant to be two tothree weeks as their mother quote found them
a decent place to stay, andduring that time, Schmidt's older sister,
(10:05):
who was eight, described episodes ofsexual 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 couchto sleep on for the night. She
said that her mother left them unattendedwith some of these men, which led
to them being repeatedly sexually abused.At this point, Child's Services were finally
(10:31):
alerted and the four children were formallyplaced 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 inanother volatile household. She described a new
guardian who took a quote biblical sparethe rod spoiled the child approach to parenting,
(10:54):
which ultimately led to Child's Services orderingseveral members of the family into anger
management classes. Schmidt and one sisterwere 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
(11:16):
brought against Schmidt. Just prior tomid two thousand and nine. His half
sister, slash Guardian, testified thatfollowing an infancy and early childhood rife with
abuse, neglect, trauma, andsexual molestation, a young relative reported that
Schmidt had touched him inappropriately over hispajamas. She testified that she made sure
(11:39):
that the child's parents called the authoritiesand that Schmidt was held accountable for his
actions. Consequently, Schmidt was placedon 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 tothe neighboring property. The family was well
(12:03):
aware of Schmidt's molestation charge, andthe younger boys especially were put on high
alert to watch for any behavior thatwas inappropriate or made them uncomfortable. According
to Alaana's father, though that neverhappened, and they grew to trust him
and grew to love him, offeringhim what mister Callahan referred to as quote
a second chance. His guardian testifiedthat her little brother called a Lawna's parents
(12:28):
mom and dad. Other witnesses testifiedabout the relationship, using words like idolized
and obsessed. An Schmidt's Facebook profilewas even under the name Aaron Callahan.
He wanted to be an actual partof this family, and there had even
been talks of the Callahan's legally adoptinghim, although no moves had been made
to do it. At his actualhouse on the other side of Miles Road,
(12:54):
he and his siblings were loved,but also not fully accepted. According
to Schmidt's sister, who was threeyears older than him, things that his
home were getting rocky because, ashis guardian later testified, his desire to
be a Callahan was slowly affecting hisdesire to mind her. He didn't respect
her authority, and since Child's Serviceshad forbid her from any further quote chastising,
(13:20):
which included physical disciplining, her onlyrecourse was to resort to grounding him
as a means to create some distancebetween Schmidt and the Callahan's influence. It
was a lovely influence, as theCallahans seemed to be, by all accounts,
an exceptional family, but Schmidt's obsessiondidn't seem to be waning. It
(13:41):
seemed to be growing. Those whoknew him felt that he got acceptance from
the Callahans that he didn't get athome. At the end of December two
thousand and ten, Schmidt completed histerm 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
(14:05):
from school to what was supposed tobe an empty house, which was a
rare occurrence since Amanda or their motherwere usually always home before her. Their
mother had a medical procedure performed thatday and was running just a few minutes
late when Alaana arrived home from schooland found the front door already open and
someone inside the house making noise.Terrified, she soon realized that Schmidt was
(14:31):
inside of the house by himself,in clear violation of all of the most
important rules. Alauna had been soscared, 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 totell them, and the woman was understandably
angry, wanting to know how Schmidthad been able to get into the house
(14:54):
in the first place. He maintainedthat the door had been left unlocked,
but she knew it wasn't true becausethe 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 allowedto be there without apparent present now and
not before five pm on school days. Although no one noticed at the time,
(15:18):
it eventually became evident that Schmidt hadused 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 housepiece had gone missing, but showed up
again after Allaana was murdered. Mostshockingly, Schmidt was later determined to have
(15:39):
stolen Allaanna's father's new gun that day, which was kept on his dresser covered
by hats. A shotgun was alsokept out in the open, although it
wasn't touched. Schmidt's attorney would latersay that an episode of bullying at Grovetown
High School had led to his gettingbeat up, and that he stole the
gun for tection. The gun boxwas later located in his bedroom, with
(16:03):
the instruction manual found in his bathroom. A box of mister Callahan's ammunition was
also recovered five days later. OnMonday, January thirty first, two thousand
and eleven, Schmidt was carrying thatgun as he approached Amanda Callahan as she
waited at a Launa's bus stop.Schmidt told her that he got grounded and
(16:26):
couldn't come over for two weeks.She said he walked up Miles Road and
backed toward his house, but investigatorsconcluded that Schmidt likely lurked in the woods
and waited for her to leave forthe bus stop again. About twenty five
minutes later, Amanda arrived back atthe house with their brother and immediately saw
(16:48):
Schmidt's sneakers deposited near the front door, keeping with Missus Callahan's rule that was
second nature to frequent visitors. Asshe approached the wide open backslide door,
she noticed a red substance on thefloor and said that she thought it was
spilled coolly, but then she sawthat the chair Alana had been sitting in
(17:08):
was knocked over. As she slidthe 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 thatshe got back into her dad's truck and
started driving toward the back, thoughSchmidt had put his shoes back on as
(17:32):
they went out the front door andrun straight to Alanna's body on foot,
reaching her before Amanda had even gottenthe truck in motion. Amanda testified that
Schmidt went right to Alanna and beganto try to pull sticks from her hair,
crying and saying that now he'd touchedher and police would think that he'd
been involved. He never mentioned thefact that the girl he called a sister
(17:56):
was covered in blood and likely fatallywounded. 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 themissing house keys under the driver's floor mat
where she found them several weeks afterher sister's murder. He didn't need them
(18:17):
anymore. Amanda called nine one oneand started CPR while Schmidt took over the
phone call. He was the firstperson to suggest that it looked like she'd
been shot. The three witnesses,a lawn As sister, brother, and
Aaron Schmidt, were separated, andinvestigators soon to questioned the older two as
witnesses. Three hours after police arrivedat the scene, Schmidt maintained his original
(18:44):
story of chasing after a man wearingall black that he said he saw running
toward the Callahan property. The investigatorscontinued to let him recollect the events of
that afternoon, and as he wenton, they had more and more questions.
Those at the crime scene were inconstant contact with the detectives talking to
(19:06):
Schmidt, and they soon related thatthe two k nines at the Callahan home
hadn't caught the supposed trail that theman in black had traveled. They told
him that under ten minutes was notenough 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
(19:30):
he wasn't lying, and kept changinghis story to fit with whatever questions the
detectives threw at him. His handswere 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
(19:51):
of his socks had blood on them. Then, Schmidt said that he had
actually seen the man shoot Alana andthat he'd been forced to assist all the
He was only there trying to stopwhatever was about to happen. He reiterated
that he was there, but thathe wasn't the only person there, and
that he got along his blood ontop of his socks when he was forced
(20:11):
to drag her body to the woodsagainst his will. Through tearless sobs,
he admitted to discarding the weapon inthe woods, conveniently providing a reason as
to why his prince may be foundon the gun. Detective disseminated this new
information, and mister Callahan's gun wassoon found in the woods behind their home.
(20:33):
They reminded him that this family wasnow terrified that a nameless gunman was
running around, and that if noone else was involved, he should tell
them. Then, Schmidt claimed toactually know the man in black and identified
him as a neighbor who was oftenoutside his home waiting to brandish a weapon
at anyone who happened to buy.He next tried to say that it was
(20:56):
one of the kids that had jumpedhim at school who was mad at Alanna
and told Schmidt he was going todo something to scare her. He claimed
that Alana and this other boy hadargued in her house, and that the
boy had grabbed mister Callahan's gun andshot Alana before taking off running down the
trail toward his own home. Theytold him that whomever did this didn't leave
(21:21):
the yard, that the dogs indicatedthat 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 wentto pick up the little brother from
the bus stop at the end ofthe driveway, he went by the Callahans
to tell Alanna that he was grounded. He said she grabbed her father's gun,
(21:45):
saying something about how she wanted tolearn how to use it. Schmidt
said that he told her that itwas a bad idea and that he wouldn't
be any help because he didn't knowhow to use it. When Alana continued
messing around with it, he saidhe took it, and as he tried
to uncock it with it on thedining table, it fired, striking her
(22:06):
in the back of the head andcausing her to immediately slump over onto the
floor, toppling the chair over withher. The detectives questioned him a great
deal about how the bullet hit thecomputer keyboard at a downward angle, but
he stayed with his story of anaccidental discharge from several feet away and from
(22:26):
below the area where Alawana was actuallyshot. After consulting with CSI again and
telling him that the scenario still didn'tfit, Schmidt, who was about six
feet tall at the time, admittedthat he was standing within two feet of
Alanna's back trying to unload the gunwhen it accidentally discharged. Her Prints weren't
(22:48):
found on the gun, but Schmitzenonly Schmidts were, a fact that enabled
police to get him to finally saythat 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'sroom and that he was in tremendous fear
when he dragged her two hundred feetinto the woods instead of calling for help.
(23:14):
At trial in February two thousand andtwelve, the defense tried to say
that Schmidt quote snap, but bythe time closing arguments came around, their
stance had changed to this was anaccidental shooting. After a four day trial,
during which the jury heard from severalwitnesses, including a Lawna's parents and
(23:34):
sister, Anne, Schmidt's half sisterslash guardian, and his fifteen year old
great nephew slash best friend, hewas found guilty on all charges. The
state alleged that Alaana had gotten himin trouble for being the house alone and
ruined the family's trust in him,and that days later he shot her for
(23:56):
it. Schmidt's attorney tried for avoluntary mans latter. However, the judge
did not allow the lesser included offensebecause there was no evidence to support it.
Instead, he instructed the jury todeliberate on the charges of malice murder
because Schmidt stole the gun ahead oftime, and felony murder in addition to
(24:17):
weapons related charges. A twenty twoday break between the guilty verdict and Schmidt's
sentencing gave friends and family members agood bit of time to gather their thoughts
to present in their statements, andeveryone did except the killer himself. Lacy
Aaron Schmidt didn't address his victim's lovedones or the court on his sentencing day.
(24:38):
While the judge made his final decisionon the direction his young life would
go, Person after person rose tospeak on behalf of both victim and killer,
one side begging for leniency while theother demanded no mercy be shown since
he'd showed none to Alanna. Schmidthad shown little remorse or feelings during his
(25:03):
proceedings and has never said that heplanned 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 bothupheld by the Georgia's Supreme Court in two
(25:26):
thousand and fifteen, after he filedbased on ineffective assistance of counsel following the
US Supreme Court's decision in Montgomery versusLouisiana in two thousand and sixteen, Schmidt
got a new attorney who filed forresentencing and saw right from the beginning that
the Columbia County District Attorney withheld certaindocuments and evidence, although he couldn't tell
(25:51):
exactly what he didn't have access to. Schmidt's request for resentencing was denied Lacier
and Schmidt, who was twenty sixyears old in two thousand and twenty two
and now stands six foot five inchestall, continues to serve his life without
parole sentence and is currently incarcerated atHayes State Prison in Tryon, Georgia.
(26:15):
He was on season one, episodeone of A and E's show Kids Behind
Bars when he was twenty two andsaid that he had been target shooting in
the woods right before he entered theCallahans and was trying to unload the gun
when it discharged, accidentally killing Alana. He said he tried to cover it
(26:36):
up because he didn't want her motherto be mad at him.
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