Aleigha Lee Murder Trial – Overview
One of the most horrific cases of abuse and murder that exist
The Case
Case Number SUR2020000615 is before the Superior Court of Coweta County.
Originally assigned to the Hon. Judge Emory Palmer, the case was reassigned to the Hon. Judge Dennis Blackmon on 12/13/22.
On 12/13/22, the docket shows an Order of the Court Specially Setting the Trial for August 14th, 2023.
The Victim(s)
Aleigha Lee. 2 years old, the daughter of the suspects.
The Suspects(s)
Elizabeth Lynn Lee, born January 4th, 1990, is the mother of the victim.
Daniel Lenwood Lee Jr, born March 25th, 1990, father of the victim.
Brief Overview
On November 4th, 2018, Daniel Lenwood Lee Jr called 911 and stated that his daughter, Aleigha Lee, 2, was unresponsive. He would go on to state that “We woke up and she’s barely breathing,” and that “She’s really white. Please Hurry!” The family lived at 208 Tranquil Rd in Senoia.
She was taken to Piedmont Newnan Hospital, but passed away. It was there that investigators first saw the toddlers injuries that covered a majority of her body. The apparent injuries, horrid in themselves, would be just the beginning, as an autopsy preformed by the GBI would later detail the unthinkable extent of the injuries to her internal organs.
Aleigha was one of 6 of the Lee’s children. The other 5 children were placed in protective custody immediately.
She spent the first 16 months of her life with foster parents. The Lee’s, addicted to meth and living in a van, had lost custody of their children. They had enrolled in an 18 month “Family Court” program through the Coweta County court system and upon completing it were reunited with their children in August 2017.
Having being touted as a success story for the Family Court program, the Coweta County Juvenile Court, as well as DCFS would eventually state that the Lee’s had completed every requirement of the program and that there’d been no evidence of abuse.
Arrest
Elizabeth Lynn Lee was booked into the Coweta County Jail November 4th, 2018 and charged with the following.
MURDER
BATTERY AGGRAVATED HANDS FEET FIST
CHILD CRUELTY
Daniel Lenwood Lee, Jr. was booked into the Coweta County Jail November 5th, 2018 and charged with the following.
CHILD CRUELTY
He would soon have a charge of MURDER added to his booking.
Indictment
The pair were indicted by the Coweta County Grand Jury on November 13th, 2020, just over 2 years after the death of Aleigha.
Elizabeth Lynn Lee was indicted on the following charges.
Malice Murder
Felony Murder
Aggravated Assault
Aggravated Battery
Cruelty to Children – 1st Degree
Felony Murder
Cruelty to Children – 1st Degree
Causing a child to be a child in need of services
Cruelty to Children – 1st Degree
Daniel Lenwood Lee, Jr. was indicted on the following charges.
Felony Murder
Cruelty to Children – 1st Degree
Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor
Bond Status
Both Elizabeth and Daniel have attempted both before and after being indicted asked the court for bond. Prior to indictment, both had received bond and subsequently had asked for their bond to be reduced. Elizabeth’s was, multiple times as seen below. However, neither were able to come up with the bond amounts and both have remained in jail since their initial arrest.
The following is the sequence of bond request and their results for Elizabeth Lee.
11/15/18 – Motion Requesting Bond.
01/10/19 – Bond set at $375,000 with restrictions.
04/16/19 – Motion for Bond Reduction.
05/06/19 -Bond reduced to $150,000 with restrictions.
07/27/19 – Motion for Bond Reduction.
10/16/19 – Bond reduced to $50,000 with restrictions.
11/13/20 – Indicted – Bond Requirements Change.
12/23/20 – Motion for Bond.
02/18/21 – Bond Denied.
05/05/21 – Motion for Bond.
06/08/21 – Bond Denied.
The following is the sequence of bond request and their results for Daniel Lee.
01/17/20 – Pro Se Petition Requesting Bond.
03/09/20 – Bond set at $50,000 with restrictions.
05/06/20 – Pro Se Petition for Bond Reduction.*
11/13/20 – Indicted – Bond Requirements Change.
06/21/22 – Pro Se Petition Requesting Bond.*
* Note there is nothing in the docket in regards to the court hearing these petitions.
Legal Representatives
The State of Georgia is being represented in it’s prosecution by ADA Jillian Brasfield.
Elizabeth Lee was originally represented by David Taylor and James Strickland of David Taylor & Associates of Newnan, however they were both allowed to withdraw as council on 10/13/20.
They were replaced on 12/23/20 by Richard Lord based out of Fayetteville. However on 3/22/21 he was substituted as council by J Ryan Brown of the J Ryan Brown Law Firm in Newnan. He remains her attorney at this time.
Daniel Lee has been represented since 12/17/20 by Barry Debrow, Jr. of Strickland Debrow of Newnan.
Legal happenings of note
On 08/20/21, Daniel Lee, acting Pro Se, delivered via U.S. Mail a demand for a speedy trial. He stated that he wanted to be tried during the [ then ] current term of the court.
On 10/26/21 the Coweta County Department of Children and Family Services delivered a Motion to Quash Subpoena in reference to a subpoena from Elizabeth Lee’s defense for records. In it’s Motion, and a Brief in support of the Motion filed on the same date, the agency argued that the records it retains are confidential and only the Court, finding a legitimate need, can require their disclosure. There’s no entry on the docket showing the Courts ruling on the Motion.
On 11/05/21 Elizabeth Lee’s defense entered an Amended Motion to Suppress. In it the defense argues that the search warrant executed by Coweta County Sheriff’s Office was defective for 2 core reasons and that all evidence gathered as a result should be suppressed.
The first core defect the defense claims is that the warrant was invalid due to it being written to the wrong address. The defendants resided at 208 Tranquil Road, Senoia, GA – it appears the search warrant noted an address of 208 Tranquil Lane, Senoia, GA. Tranquil Lane is in fact a road in the north portion of the County represented as Palmetto, GA.
While this may be a small error, errors of any sort in a document as important as a search warrant can be grave. Warrants must be as particular as possible in where the search is to occur, and what evidence the search is to obtain. When it comes to the where part, the warrant should be particular in who owns the property, and the particular address to be searched. In a situation where the warrant does not provide the specific owners, it is even more important that the particular address be correct. The defense argues that, in this case, the owners weren’t enumerated and the address was incorrect.
The second core defect that the defense argues is that while the warrant was obtained via video-conference which was authorized under state law, there was either no video recording of the warrant application, or it was failed to be maintained as is required by state law.
While this presents a defect on its own, it’s compounded in that a video record of the warrant application to the Judge may have shed light on the fact the Officers requesting, and Judge granting understood the correct address of the location to be searched, and that the address on the warrant application was just a typo.
The docket doesn’t show evidence that this Motion has been ruled on by the Court. In fact on 04/18/22 the defense entered a 2ND Amended Motion to Suppress. In this motion they cite the same core defects but this time including a second warrant issued, again, for the Tranquil Lane address.
On 02/03/23 the Court granted an Ex Parte Motion by the Elizabeth Lee’s defense for funds to pay an expert in her case. As part of the Courts Order, the defense will be appropriated $5,000 to cover the expense of an expert. The court breaks down the amount to be used as $2,500 for review prior to trial and $2,500 to be used for the experts appearance at trial to provide testimony.
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