Man guilty in stepmom's death seeks new sentence

Associated Press - September 9, 2009 6:54 PM ET

ATLANTA (AP) - An attorney for a man who was sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering his stepmother has asked the Georgia Supreme Court to grant a new sentencing.

Lynn Damiano said the jury never heard the horrendous conditions that James Allyson Lee endured as a child.

She told the court Tuesday that Lee was so neglected as a child that he began acting like his dog, chasing cars, biting ankles, barking instead of talking and staying outside for hours barking.

Lee, who was 19 at time of the crime, was convicted in 1997 of the 1994 killing of 43-year-old Sharon Varnadore Chancey of Blackshear.

A Charlton County court overturned his death sentence in March after concluding Lee's attorneys didn't do enough research to show his mental problems could be a reason for a lighter sentence.

Information from: The Florida Times-Union, http://www.jacksonville.com