Lisa Graham to be sentenced Nov. 16

Sentencing was previously delayed for mental evaluation

By STEPHANIE PEDERSEN

spedersen@ledger-enquirer.com

The psychological evaluation has been completed for Lisa Leanne Graham, convicted for hiring someone in 2007 to gun down her 20-year-old daughter, Stephanie Shea Graham, and she will be sentenced Nov. 16 in Russell County, according to court documents.

Judge Jacob Walker III said last week that the psychological evaluation he ordered in May was finished and that he has set the sentencing date.

A jury in March found Lisa Graham guilty of capital murder and recommended the death penalty. Her original sentencing date was set for May, but Walker delayed sentencing for the evaluation.

Walker said in May that a pre-sentencing report showed Graham was taking three medications, one that could be prescribed for schizophrenia, and had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He ordered that a medical doctor conduct a complete mental evaluation on Graham, and that she take an IQ test.

Russell County District Attorney Ken Davis, who prosecuted Lisa Graham, said in May that she had been taking medication for years but her mental state had not

been assessed.

The judge was acting out of "an abundance of caution" by ordering the evaluation, Davis said: "There's never been a psychological evaluation done on this particular defendant."

According to court testimony, Lisa Graham hired longtime family worker Kenneth Walton to kill her daughter, who went by "Shea." Walton met up with Shea at a gas station on July 5, 2007, and took her on a drive down Ala. 165 before pulling off on Bowden Road so they could relieve themselves.

When Shea got out beside the truck's passenger door, he pulled out a pistol and from the driver's seat shot her twice in the head, then got out, walked around the truck and shot her four more times before driving away.

Walton later confessed and testified at Lisa Graham's trial.

This story was originally published October 19, 2015 at 9:34 PM with the headline "Lisa Graham to be sentenced Nov. 16 ."