The 19-year-old accused of planning a mass shooting at schools in Colorado Springs appeared in court Friday for sentencing after pleading guilty to one count of second-degree assault last year.

Lily Whitworth appeared in person at the Elbert County Courthouse for sentencing, where the teen faced up to 16 years in the Department of Corrections. She previously went by the name William, which remains her legal name.

Whitworth originally faced several charges of attempted first-degree murder after deliberation, attempted first-degree murder with extreme indifference, criminal mischief, menacing and interference with staff, faculty or students of educational institutions. Through the plea agreement entered in November, Whitworth only pleaded guilty to the amended charge of second-degree assault, and the remaining charges were dismissed.

In the end, the judge delayed the sentencing.

The prosecution and defense entered into Friday’s sentencing hearing with drastically differing propositions on sentencing, which was open to the court in accordance with the plea deal.

Whitworth’s defense attorneys advocated to Judge Theresa Slade for their client to receive only supervised probation, and for Whitworth to serve the probation period in Texas, where Whitworth’s family lives.

The bulk of the sentencing hearing Friday was spent with Whitworth’s defense team presenting significant mitigation to the court, outlining the serious abuse suffered by Whitworth throughout her childhood, and the “remarkable” recovery steps taken by Whitworth since her arrest nearly 10 months ago.

Elizabeth Jones, one of Whitworth’s defense attorneys, said that “we wouldn’t be here” if it weren’t for the physical, emotional and verbal abuse suffered by Whitworth as a child at the hands of her stepfather, and the lack of education Whitworth received as a child. Jones stated to the court that after Whitworth moved to Colorado as a child with her mother, she was pulled out of school over and over again, leading to Whitworth struggling to even finish a full year of school.

Jones continued that, since Whitworth was arrested, she has taken significant steps toward recovery in therapy, and that Whitworth is thankful that she was arrested when she was, as it served as “intervention.”

Whitworth’s father, Christopher Whitworth, gave an emotional statement to the court, outlining the abuse suffered by his daughter since his ex-wife and Lily Whitworth’s mother moved them to Colorado, and the support system his daughter would have if the court allowed Lily Whitworth to be released on supervised probation.

“Don’t let (Lily) disappear into the system,” Christopher Whitworth said to the court. “Please let me bring my child home.”

Prosecutor Eva Wilson advocated for a “lengthy” prison sentence, stating that the harm brought upon the community through Whitworth’s writing and planning deserve to be punished.

Wilson presented pieces of evidence to the court to highlight the “seriousness” of the threats being made by Whitworth, which included writings from her journal describing that she wanted to kill at least 30 people, and text messages Whitworth sent her mother the day of her arrest, saying “how clear do I have to make it. I’m going to walk into Timberview Middle School with an AR.”

Wilson completed her argument by stating that even a 10-year prison sentence would be “light,” considering the harm Whitworth had done to the community, and the likelihood that Whitworth wouldn’t serve the entirety of the prison sentence.

During Jones’ mitigation, she acknowledged the seriousness of the claims being made by her client, but also noted that Whitworth had no access to the weapons or items she referred to in the writings and texts presented by Wilson.

Jones additionally noted that Wilson’s first plea-deal offer to the defense was allegedly for four years of supervised probation and no prison time, but 18th Judicial District Attorney John Kellner refused to approve the deal.

Tonya Thompson, general counsel for Academy School District 20, where Timberview Middle School is, gave a statement to the court on behalf of chief operating officer for the district, Brett Wilson.

Thompson stated that Whitworth’s writings and plans were “not a victimless offense,” and that teachers, students and parents are “traumatized” as a result.

Thompson continued that because of the threats and the general concern for school shootings in the country, resources in the district that should have gone to educational programs or extracurricular programs that are instead being devoted to security.

The final person to speak at the hearing was Lily, who briefly spoke about wanting to take accountability for her actions, and asked Slade to allow her to continue rehabilitation outside of prison.

“I was in too deep, way too deep,” Whitworth said to the court. “The choices I’ve made, I regret.”

Afterward, Slade opted to push back sentencing to seek more clarity from the probation and community corrections departments.

Slade stated she was frustrated with probation’s recommendation for a period of time in an “intensive residential treatment program,” but no clarity on which programs were an option, as well as a lack of clarity from community corrections as to if Whitworth could be accepted to community corrections.

If Whitworth could not be accepted to community corrections, Slade said she would like to know the reason why.

Slade then delayed the conclusion of sentencing until Jan. 30.

Lily Whitworth

18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office