On the morning of October 1, 1997, in Pearl, Mississippi, 17-year-old Lydia Kaye Dew was killed in a school shooting at Pearl High School. The shooter was a fellow student, 16-year-old Luke Woodham, who had earlier that morning fatally stabbed and bludgeoned his mother, Mary Ann Woodham, at their home. Woodham arrived at the school with a rifle concealed under a trench coat and opened fire, killing Lydia and his 16-year-old former girlfriend, Christina Menefee; seven other students were wounded.

The attack ended when the school’s assistant principal, Joel Myrick, retrieved a handgun from his vehicle, confronted Woodham as he attempted to flee, and detained him until law enforcement arrived. Woodham was arrested and charged with three counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder. He was found guilty and received three life sentences for the murders and 140 years for the attempted murders. Investigators also found a manifesto Woodham had given to another student, and several other students were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder on the belief they had prior knowledge of his plans.