A transgender Colorado teenager who admitted to plotting mass shootings targeting at least three schools — and who had penned a chilling manifesto praising infamous killers — has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Lilly Whitworth, 19, born William, learned her fate in an Elbert County courtroom Tuesday. She was given credit of 306 days for time served 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 men’s facility.
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The Post 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 was arrested after her family made a collective decision to hold her “accountable for her actions,” the teen’s mother, Melissa Whitworth-Mathes, told The Post last year.
Whitworth’s sister called the police on March 31, telling a dispatcher that the teen was punching holes in the wall and had threatened to shoot up a school.
Police discovered journals written by Whitworth, which included a list of firearms and instructions for how to 3D print them, information on bomb-making and a list of people to be killed, according to an affidavit obtained by The Post.
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Other potential targets mentioned in her notebooks or in text messages included Prairie Hills Elementary and Pine Creek High School, along with churches and government buildings.
Cops discovered floor plans of schools in Whitworth’s papers and on a dry-erase board.
Also recovered was a four-page manifesto which contained words of praise for serial killer Ed Kemper and Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza.
When asked how close Whitworth had come to carrying out a mass shooting, she was quoted as telling police that she was “about a third of the way from doing it.”
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 rest of the charges against Whitworth were dropped as part of the plea deal.
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“I’m truly sorry,” Whitworth said in court earlier this month. “I thank God I got out. You get addicted to the pain, depression and isolation.”
“I was in too deep, way too deep,” she added. “The choices I’ve made, I regret.”
Judge Theresa Slade rejected the defense attorneys’ pleas for leniency and ruled that a prison sentence was the only way to “ensure a sense of security” in the community, according to reporting by the Denver Gazette.
“This had a pretty big impact on the community,” she said of Whitworth’s murderous plans. “People were hurt, people were scared.”
Prosecutor Eva Wilson, who argued for a 10-year prison sentence for Whitworth, citing the detailed plans she had laid out in her journals to carry out massacres, welcomed the judge’s ruling.
“I think the Department of Corrections sentence is absolutely supported by all the evidence, all the planning and the impact on the victims,” Wilson said after the sentencing. “I think anything less … would just not be appropriate, considering the magnitude of the planning and the efforts made.”
Eric Ross, media relations director for the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, told The Post that while it was not “the exact sentence” that prosecutors were looking for, they are grateful that the judge denied probation for Whitworth.
“We are still satisfied and respect the judge’s decision,” he said.
* Original Article:
https://nypost.com/2024/01/31/news/lilly-whitworth-gets-6-years-for-colorado-mass-shootings-plot/amp/
