SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA – Authorities have charged two teens with attempted murder and conspiracy for allegedly planning a shooting rampage at a central Indiana school that one of the teens attended.
Alexis Pickett, a student at Morristown High School in Shelbyville, Indiana, and Melanie Little of Corinth, Mississippi, both 17, are charged as adults in an alleged crime that was planned via social media and involved Pickett sending a video of the school’s design, according to law enforcement documents.
The investigation began in December when Pickett’s mother, Rhonda Nicholson, contacted sheriff’s police with concerns that Pickett had exhibited behaviors that indicated she intended to harm others or herself, including online conversations obsessed with the former school shooters.
Pickett, who lives in Arlington, was charged in January. Not many fees were collected this week.
“The mother saved a bunch of lives,” Shelby County Prosecutor Brad Landwerlein said. “What I tell parents is: ‘It’s OK to check in on your child’s activities, see what conversations they’re having.’”
Shelbyville is located 32 miles (51.5 kilometers) southeast of Indianapolis.
The affidavit of probable cause details detailed conversations Pickett and Little had, mostly on the communication app Discord. Beckett admitted to investigators that she had thought about suicide for a long time and had a desire to harm others. Its devices contained photos of the gunmen in the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado. For Halloween, she dressed up as a school shooter from a movie.
Beckett, a senior, suggested a mass shooting around graduation and planned for May 25, even though graduation takes place two days earlier. She wasn’t going to tell her parents that Beckett was a friend from elementary school who had moved away and wanted to attend her friend’s graduation in Indiana.
Little sent a video of the school’s layout, its hallways and cul-de-sacs. Pickett owned a muzzleloader-type firearm, according to the affidavit, and showed small photos of targets she said she hit using a .357 rifle and pistol. The two discussed without resolution how to obtain other weapons.
Both women face one count of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder, each punishable by 20 to 40 years in prison, Landferlin said. Pickett is also charged with intimidation.
Pickett is being held in jail on $1 million cash bail. Her trial is scheduled to begin April 20, Landwehrlein said. She left a message requesting comment with the public defender representing her.
There are few in prison in Mississippi. Indiana state officials began the extradition process after Little refused to waive it. A message was left with a Corinth, Mississippi, attorney associated with the Little family.