Heath High School victims remembered 28 years later

Monday, December 1st, marks 28 years since the shooting that killed three students and injured five others at Heath High School in western McCracken County.

We remember the three killed in the shooting: 14-year-old Nicole Hadley, 17-year-old Jessica James, and 15-year-old Kayce Steger, and all those impacted by the events on that day.

Then-14-year-old Michael Carneal opened fire on his fellow students during a before-school prayer meeting in 1997. After the shootings, Carneal put down his weapon and surrendered to the principal.

Carneal received a life sentence at trial, which guaranteed an opportunity for parole after 25 years, the maximum sentence permissible at the time, given his age.

Carneal will, though, have to spend the rest of his life in prison without another opportunity to seek parole after the Kentucky Parole Board voted 7-0 to deny parole in September of 2022. That panel deliberated in private for just 30 minutes.