The Murder of Lauren Giddings

Lauren Giddings disappeared on June 26, 2011. The popular, pretty young woman did not have any known enemies. The community rallied together hoping to locate Lauren. On June 30, reporters gathered outside the apartment complex where Lauren lived. They talked to several people while outside the complex but one person, a man named Stephen McDaniel, stood out. This man took a special interest in the case and it seemed he talked more openly than other spectators.

We don't know where she is. The only thing we can think of is that maybe she went out running and someone snatched her," he told our reporter. "One of her friends had a key, we went inside and tried to see anything that was amiss. She had a door jam that was sitting right by it, so there was no sign that anyone broke in.

McDaniel had a Special Interest in the Case

McDaniel told reporters that Lauren was a lovely person. He said she was nice and very “personable.” He told reporters that whoever kidnapped Lauren likely did so while she was out running. A few minutes later, reporters tell McDaniel that police had located a body. He immediately turned pale, gasped for air, and began to weep. He looked at the reporter and asked, “Body?” He then stated, “I need to sit down.”

Watch the conversation between McDaniel and the reporter here. Do his actions seem suspicious to you?

The body was later identified as that of Lauren Giddings.

McDaniel lived in the apartment beside Lauren. The two attended Mercer University School of Law together as well. They were not friends but had spoken in the past. McDaniel then became infatuated with Lauren. He stalked her, browsed her social media profiles, and went as far as to attach a video camera on a pole outside her apartment for the purpose of spying on her activities inside the home.

Something Strange is Going On

Before her murder, Lauren told friends that she felt like something strange was going on inside her apartment. She told them things in the apartment had been moved around on several occasions. She had no idea that her neighbor and future killer was coming inside the apartment every chance he could find. When McDaniel heard that Lauren was moving out of the apartment, the thought of losing her frightened him.

McDaniel Breaks Into Lauren’s Home

McDaniel worked as a maintenance man at the apartment complex for a short while. He stole a set of master keys during his time. He used that master key to break into Lauren’s apartment while she slept.

Lauren pleaded with him to let her go. Instead, McDaniel strangled her to death with his hands. He dragged her body into the bathtub and fled the scene. He returned later in the evening and dismembered her body with a hacksaw. He flushed her fingers down the toilet and then took the remains to various dumpsters around the city.

Authorities found several pieces of evidence linking him to the crime when they searched his apartment, including the packaging for the ax found in Laurens home used to kill her and a flash drive containing video

footage from inside Lauren’s apartment when she was not home.

Go Fund Me

Mark McDaniel, Stephan’s father, created a GoFundme page to raise $5,000 to assist with “legal fees” for his son’s defense. The GFM “Violated the terms and policies of the site” and was removed a couple of weeks later. At that time, the support page did not raise a single penny.

Conviction & Sentencing

McDaniel was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 2041. McDaniel could have faced the death penalty but the prosecution took it off the table at the request of the Giddings family. Lauren did not approve of capital punishment before her death.

Resources/Information:

https://www.macon.com/news/local/crime/article215487135.html