Judith Ann Neelley, the woman convicted of the 1982 kidnapping, rape and murder of a Rome teenager in, will have another shot at parole in May of this year.  Neelley’s death sentence was commuted by Alabama Governor Fob James in 1999.  But if Neelley is released, she could still be facing a life sentence in Georgia.

In 2018, Neelley was up for parole, and at that time, Chattooga County Sheriff Mark Schrader told WZQZ News that Neelley could face a life sentence in Georgia.

In October of 1982, Neelley abducted a couple from a Rome service station.  Janice Chatman and John Hancock were a young engaged couple from Rome.  On October 4, 1982, they were abducted by Judith Neelley. John Hancock was shot in Gordon County, while Janice Chatman was brought back to a motel room, where Judith Neelley’s husband Alvan Neelley tortured the girl.  The Neelley’s then drove the girl to Haywood Valley Road, just across the Chattooga County line, where Judith Neelley murdered Chatman.

John Hancock, however, did not die, and was able to point to Alvin and Judith Neelley as his assailants.  Judith Neelley worked out a plea agreement to avoid the death penalty in Georgia by testifying against her husband.  Judith Neeley entered a negotiated plea in Chattooga County Superior Court and received a life sentence to run consecutive to the sentence in the DeKalb County, Alabama case.