Alabama officials say that they expect lawyers for convicted murderer Judith Ann Neelly to apply for parole sometime this year.

Neelly was convicted in 1983 of the rape and murder of thirteen year old Lisa Ann Millican that Neelly and her husband, Alvin Neely, had abducted from a mall in Rome; Neelly also was accused in the murder of Janice Chatman whose body was found in Chattooga County in 1982.

Judith Neely was only eighteen years old at the time of the murders and was tried for the murder of Millican in Fort Payne. Millican’s body was found at Little River Canyon after she had been injected with Drano and shot in the back by Judith Neelly.

The judge in the trial sentenced Neelly to death, making her the youngest woman sentenced to death in Alabama history.

However, Governor Fob James commuted her sentence from death to life in prison.

Alabama officials say that when Governor James commuted Neelly’s sentence it left open the possibility for parole.

Alvin Neelley died in prison in Georgia in 2005.

(AM 1180)