A transgender Colorado teenager who admitted to planning mass shootings targeting at least three schools – and who has written a chilling manifesto praising the notorious killer – has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Lilly Whitworth, 19, born William, learned her fate in an Elbert County courtroom Tuesday. He was given 306 days credit for time served from his March 2023 arrest.
Given Whitworth’s transgender status, it is unclear whether she will be sent to a women’s prison or a men’s facility.
A spokeswoman for the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, told The Post Wednesday that it is not involved in determining the defendant’s place of incarceration.
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.
Lilly Whitworth, 19, a transgender woman from Colorado, was sentenced to six years in prison for planning a school shooting last year. County Sheriff Elbert Whitworth has admitted planning a mass shooting at Timberview High School, which he previously attended. Timberview Middle School / Facebook
Whitworth was arrested after his family made a collective decision to hold him “accountable for his actions,” the teenager’s mother, Melissa Whitworth-Mathes, told The Post last year.
Whitworth’s sister called police on March 31, telling dispatchers that the teenager punched a hole in the wall and had threatened to shoot up a school.
Police found a journal written by Whitworth, which included a list of guns and instructions for 3D printing, information about making bombs and a list of people to be killed, according to an affidavit obtained by The Post.
Whitworth admitted to an officer that he planned to carry out a mass shooting at Timberview High School in the Colorado Springs area, which he had previously attended, for “no particular reason.”
Other potential targets mentioned in the notebook or in his text messages include Prairie Hills Elementary and Pine Creek High School, along with churches and government buildings.
Whitworth, second from left, was arrested in March 2023 after his family contacted police.
Police found the school’s floor plan in Whitworth’s paper and on a dry erase board.
Also found was a four-page manifesto containing eulogies for serial killer Ed Kemper and Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza.
When asked how close Whitworth came to committing a mass shooting, he was quoted as telling police he was “about a third of the way to doing it.”
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Whitworth was initially charged with attempted murder, criminal mischief and menacing, but in November 2023 he pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree assault.
The remaining charges against Whitworth were dropped as part of a plea deal.
The teenager’s defense attorneys argued that he should be freed from prison time, and instead be given probation and sent directly to a community corrections program to help him deal with his alleged mental health issues, which they claim drove him to plan the mass shooting, KKTV reported.
Whitworth was quoted as telling an officer that he wanted to attack his former school for no particular reason. Timberview Middle School / Facebook Police found among Whitworth’s writings a reference to a plan to shoot up Pine Creek High School. Pine Creek Middle School / Facebook
“I am truly sorry,” Whitworth said in court earlier this month. “I thank God I was able to get out. You will be addicted to pain, depression and isolation.”
“I’m in too deep, too deep,” he added. “The choice I made, I regret.”
Judge Theresa Slade rejected defense attorneys’ pleas for leniency and ruled that a prison sentence was the only way to “ensure a sense of safety” in the community, according to a report by the Denver Gazette.
“This has a pretty big impact on the community,” he said of the Whitworth assassination plot. “People are hurt, people are scared.”
Mother Melissa Whitworth-Mathes, second from left, with Lilly (center).
Prosecutor Eva Wilson, who argued for a 10-year prison sentence for Whitworth, citing a detailed plan he had laid out in his journal to carry out the massacre, welcomed the judge’s decision.
“I think the sentence of the Department of Corrections is fully supported by all the evidence, all the planning and the impact on the victim,” Wilson said after the sentencing. “I think anything less … is not appropriate, given the amount of planning and effort that went into it.”
Eric Ross, director of media relations for the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, told The Post that while it wasn’t “the exact sentence” prosecutors were looking for, they were grateful the judge denied probation for Whitworth.
“We are still satisfied and respect the judge’s decision,” he said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
