CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — Just days after pleading guilty to a mass shooting plot at their metro Atlanta high school, two teens are preparing to learn their fate Monday.
Former Etowah High School students Alfred Dupree, 19, and Victoria McCurley, 18, pleaded guilty to six counts of attempted murder inside a Cherokee County courtroom Friday. The teens face anywhere between three years probation and 90 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Dupree and McCurley planned to carry out a “Columbine-style” attack and blow up the school in 2017. In court Friday, detectives read chilling entries from the teens' journals.
“I think we should make it through the lunchroom first or upstairs, wherever there are more people. We should think about setting up more bombs, though. I just want to kill as many people as I can,” McCurley wrote in her journal.
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The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said they got a tip about the attack from Dupree's relatives that led them to search his home. Inside, they found weapons, explosives and a kill list.
“The children that were listed on the kill list in the indictment were students in the special education class, in addition to some other individuals,” prosecutor Rachelle Carnesale said.
Alfred Dupree Jr., took up for his son, saying he never saw him argue or have any physical altercations with other children.
“He would actually shy away from confrontation rather than start any confrontation," he said.
Dupree's aunt spoke on the second day of the sentencing hearing, saying he had autism and suicidal thoughts.
“I kept waiting for this magical 18th birthday where he was going to be grown and mature and these things were going to go away," said Amy Adams. “We’re dealing with somebody that needs care, that needs help, that needs more than what I thought.”
Cox Media Group
