A Colorado transgender teenager who admitted to planning mass shootings that targeted at least three schools and wrote a chilling manifesto praising a notorious killer has been sentenced to six years in prison. It was given down.
Lily Whitworth, 19, whose real name is William, learned her fate Tuesday in an Elbert County courtroom. She was given 306 days to serve from the time of her arrest in March 2023.
Given Whitworth’s transgender status, it was not immediately clear whether she would be sent to a women’s prison or a male-only facility.
A spokesperson for the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case, told the Post on Wednesday that the office was not involved in determining where the defendants were imprisoned.
The newspaper reached out to the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) for comment.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Whitworth was not listed as a DOC inmate in the department’s online database.
Whitworth’s mother, Melissa Whitworth-Mathes, told the paper last year.
Whitworth’s sister called police on March 31 and told dispatchers that the boy had cut a hole in the wall and threatened to shoot up the school.
Police found a diary written by Whitworth, according to an affidavit obtained by the newspaper. It included a list of firearms and instructions on how to 3D print them, information about bomb making, and a list of people to kill.
Whitworth admitted to police that he planned the shooting “for no particular reason” at his former school, Timberview Middle School in the Colorado Springs area.
Other potential targets mentioned in her notes and text messages included Prairie Hills Elementary School and Pine Creek High School, as well as churches and government buildings.
Police found a floor plan of the school in Whitworth’s newspaper and dry erase board.
A four-page manifesto containing words praising serial killer Ed Kemper and Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza was also recovered.
When asked how close Whitworth was to carrying out the shooting, she told police, “I was about a third of the way there.”
Whitworth was initially charged with attempted murder, criminal mischief and menacing, but in November 2023 she pleaded guilty to a single count of second-degree assault.
The remaining charges against Whitworth were dropped as part of the plea agreement.
The teen’s defense team has waived her prison sentence and given her probation instead to address the mental health issues they say led her to plan the mass shooting. , argued that he should be sent to a live-in community corrections program. , KKTV reported.
“I am truly sorry,” Whitworth said in court earlier this month. “Thank God I escaped. I became addicted to the pain, depression, and loneliness.”
“I was in too much, too deep,” she added. “I regret my choices.”
Judge Teresa Slade rejected the defense’s plea for leniency, ruling that a prison sentence was the only way to “ensure the sense of security” in the community. According to a report in the Denver Gazette.
“This had a pretty big impact on the community,” she said of Whitworth’s murder plot. “People were hurting, people were scared.”
Prosecutor Eva Wilson argued for a 10-year prison sentence for Mr Whitworth, arguing that Mr Whitworth had detailed plans to carry out the genocide in his diary, challenging the judge’s decision. I welcomed it.
“I believe the Department of Corrections’ sentence is fully supported by all the evidence, all the planning, and the impact on the victim,” Wilson said after the verdict. “Given the plan and the scale of the effort to date, I don’t think anything less would be appropriate.”
Eric Roth, director of media relations for the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, told the Post that the judge denied Whitworth probation, although it was not the “exact sentence” that prosecutors had sought. He said he was grateful.
“We remain satisfied and respect the judge’s decision,” he said.
