Durham, NC man to go free 18 years after the murder of his 89-year-old neighbor
A man convicted of murdering his 89-year-old neighbor 18 years ago will be able to leave prison after his original conviction was vacated and he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge Thursday.
Gregory Lee’s 2006 first-degree murder conviction was vacated after he and his attorney Lisa Williams sought a motion for appropriate relief and the DA’s Office consented. Lee had been serving a sentence of life in prison.
Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson approved the agreement during a hearing Thursday.
In a statement District Attorney Satana Deberry said the courts and society’s views on criminal justice have evolved in recent decades.
“When yesterday’s decisions do not hold up to today’s standards of justice, or were improperly made to begin with, it is imperative that we act,” the statement said. “As District Attorney, I will continue to do so with truth, fairness and equity in mind.”
Motions for appropriate relief
Motions for appropriate relief are typically made to correct errors in the judicial process such as proof that a key witness lied or that a defendant had ineffective counsel.
The law appears to allow the court to grant such motions if the prosecutor and defendant agree, according to a UNC School of Government blog on the motion.
The School of Government cautions judges against granting the consent motions without valid grounds on error-free convictions and sentences.
The grounds in this case centered on the effectiveness of Lee’s counsel while the case was pending, wrote District Attorney Office spokesperson Sarah Willets in a text.
“We believe it was the equitable thing to do given the facts of the case and the time he had served,” Willets wrote.
In a previous interview, Williams said the individuals who were most responsible for the shooting made deals with the prosecutor and have been out of jail for years.
The night of the shooting
Lois Cannady was shot after a group of young men, including a friend of Lee, broke into her home late at night on June 5, 2002, to steal a Ford Crown Victoria.
Cannady, who’d had another car stolen from her earlier that day, shot at the men one time. Then one of the men shot back.
Lee wasn’t the shooter, but testimony from two of the five men involved indicated Lee, who was 18 at the time and is now 36, planned the incident.
Michael Bernard Sullivan, who was 16 at the time, was also convicted of first-degree murder by a jury and remains in prison on a life sentence.
Ricky Evelon Morris, then 19, and Little Jerome Freeman, then 25, testified against Lee under a deal with prosecutors in which they pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Morris and Freeman were released from state prison on the murder charges in 2010 and 2013, respectively.
None of Cannady’s family members attended Thursday’s hearing. About a dozen people supporting Lee attended.
14 years since conviction
After Hudson approved the motion to vacate the conviction Thursday, Lee pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
Hudson then sentenced Lee to up to nearly 14 years in prison.
Lee, who wore red jail scrubs, shackles, handcuffs and a surgical mask, said little during the hearing other than to answer the judge’s questions.
The sentencing will allow Lee, who spent about two years in jail and 15 years in state prison, to be released from prison for time served.
After the hearing, Lee’s supporters declined to say anything other than amen and praise God.
‘Blood on their hands’
Cannady’s grandson David Cannady told The News & Observer last week that he thought Lee was key in the murder. Cannady said he was outraged about the conviction being overturned and had concerns about the process.
“I don’t even know what to say,” David Cannady said in a telephone conversation with The N&O after the hearing. “They all have my grandmother’s blood on their hands. They will have to answer to God on why they made this decision.”
Cannady, who said he knew the likely outcome after meeting with Deberry in December, had said in previous interviews he didn’t plan to attend the hearing because he was concerned about how he would respond to the verdict being overturned.
In her statement, Deberry extended her condolences to the family.
Lee has served nearly half of his life in prison and twice the time he would have received if he had accepted a plea offer rather than going to trial, Deberry said.
Lee’s record will still include a murder conviction, she said.
“He will still, as he should, have to live with the responsibility he bears in the death of a woman who was like family to him,” Deberry said.
This story was originally published July 16, 2020 at 1:46 PM.
