The Murder of Stephanie ‘Shea’ Graham
For this case, I watched an episode of Someone You Thought You Knew. It’s season 2 episode 1, titled ‘The Body on Bowden Road.’
A truck driver discovers the body of a 20-year-old woman on the side of the road.
Background
Stephanie ‘Shea’ Graham was born on February 9, 1987. Her parents, Kevin and Lisa, were high school sweethearts. They also had a son named Kevin Jr., and the Graham’s appeared to be a very close family.
I will be referring to her as Shea from this point on, as that is what she was referred as. Shea graduated high school at 16 years old, and was going to college to become an accountant. Shea hoped to take over the books at her father’s contracting business one day.
Shea Graham
The 911 Call
On July 6, 2007, a truck driver named Earlic Dinkins, called the Russell County Sheriff’s office. The call came in around midnight. Dinkins told the police that he had passed by what he thought was a body.
The police soon arrived on Bowden Road. The dark road was far out of the county, and there were no street lights.
The victim was a young female in her teens or early 20’s. She had been shot 4 times in the upper chest and torso area, and 2 times in the back of the head. It was apparent that someone had wanted this person dead.
The police found several .9mm casings at the scene, as well as a wet spot in the road, that looked like it had come from a car radiator.
The police’s first theory was that the young female had been sexually assault. Her underwear was found around her ankles. The victim had no purse or ID on her, but she was identified the next day by her fingerprints. She was identified as Stephanie ‘Shea’ Graham.
The Ex-Boyfriend
The police went to the Graham home to tell her family. The Graham’s were well known in the small town of Phenix City, Alabama. Kevin was a builder, and one of the police detectives had gone to school with Lisa.
The police learned that Kevin had reported his daughter missing, after she hadn't come home from hanging out with friends.
The police asked Kevin and Lisa if Shea had any enemies. They did bring up one name: Larry aka Bubba, Shea’s abusive ex-boyfriend. They had dated for about a year, and Kevin and Lisa convinced Shea to break up with Larry.
The police tracked Larry down. He had been in the county jail on assault charges. The police questioned Larry, and asked him about his relationship with Shea. Larry said he and Shea had still been in contact, and he called her on the night she died. However, Shea hadn’t been the one to pick up his call, it had been her best friend Amy.
Amy told Larry that Shea was out with her new boyfriend Glenn. Larry revealed to the police that Shea was due in court the day after she died, for a shooting incident in Columbus.
The Incident
A year before Shea’s death, she had been out driving around with friends, when someone in the car had fired a gun. No one was hurt, but Shea was arrested and charged, along with the others.
The police were able to verify that the incident did happen. The police wondered how Shea had ended up dead the night before she was due in court. They also learned that Kevin, Shea’s father, had paid her $100,000 bail.
The police also learned that Shea hadn’t been sexually assaulted. There had been no semen or trauma found. The incident theory was looking better to the police.
A Bizarre Story
Next, the police questioned Shea’s new boyfriend Glenn, and her best friend Amy.
They had the same story. They had all been hanging out, when Shea told them that she had to meet a friend. They dropped Shea off at a nearby gas station, and saw her get into a black pickup truck, driven by a “stocky black male.”
Glenn said he didn’t know who the driver was, but Amy revealed that it was probably Kenneth Walton, a friend of the Graham family. Kenneth had also worked at the contracting business, until he was fired for crashing a dump truck on a job site.
The police found Glenn and Amy’s story to be odd. They found it weird that they had just let Shea get into Kenny’s car, and leave her there. The police soon learned that Kenneth was actually really close to Shea, and that he was like another dad or uncle to her.
A Bombshell
On July 7, Kenneth was questioned at the station. The police showed him photos of the crime scene to see what his reaction would be. Kenneth said he couldn’t look at those, because of how close he was with Shea.
Kenneth told the police that Shea had called him around 10pm, and asked him to meet her at the gas station. She had wanted to get advice about her upcoming trial. Kenneth said that Shea had also asked him to help her get a car, so that she could leave town instead of going to court.
Kenneth told the police that he told Shea that he didn’t know anyone with a car, so Shea got out of the car, and he drove off. The police soon knew that he was lying. They had obtained the gas station surveillance footage. Kenneth’s truck can be seen driving away, with Shea in the passenger seat.
Kenneth was confronted. He sighed, and then told the police that he had taken Shea to Bowden Road. He had convinced her that they were going to meet someone that would give her a car.
Kenneth said that Shea had to use the restroom, which explained why her underwear was around her ankles. He pulled his truck over, and Shea got out. Kenneth said he pointed the gun at her from inside the truck, and shot her. She fell, and he shot her 4 more times.
Kenneth then revealed that he had shot Shea, because Lisa had asked him to do it. He also said that the murder weapon was Lisa’s .9mm gun, and that he gave it back to her after he killed her daughter.
The Ultimate Betrayal
A search warrant was obtained for the Graham home. A shocked Kevin answered the door. The police asked Kevin if all of his guns were accounted for. He said yes, and revealed that he and Lisa both had .9mm guns.
Kevin opened the gun safe, but only his .9mm was inside. Kevin told the police that Lisa’s gun was probably at her father’s house. Sure enough, the police were able to recover it, and sent it in for testing.
Lisa was questioned at the station. Lisa claimed to love her daughter. Lisa then revealed that she had begged Kevin not to bail Shea out of jail, and that she had been afraid of losing their bond money because Shea wanted to run away.
Lisa said she had asked Kenneth for advice, and that Kenneth had mentioned getting rid of Shea. Lisa said she didn’t think that Kenneth was serious.
The testing on the gun came back as being the murder weapon. Shea’s blood and matter had been found on it.
Lisa Graham was arrested for capital murder. Kevin didn’t believe Lisa was involved, until a neighbor had come forward. The neighbor said that Lisa had offered him $5,000 dollars to take Shea out.
The Convictions
On June 14, 2012, Kenneth Walton pleaded guilty to capital murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.
At Lisa’s trial, Kenneth testified against her. He said Lisa had asked him to kill Shea as early as August 2004. Kenneth said Lisa had asked him many times to kill her.
The neighbor also testified that Lisa had offered to pay him $5,000.
Lisa Graham was convicted of capital murder, and was sentenced to death in November 2015.
Lisa Graham
Kenneth Walton
FINAL THOUGHTS
What an awful human being Lisa is. She had been planning to kill her daughter for 3 damn years. Kenneth is a monster too, but Lisa betrayed her whole family. She had been planning to kill Shea, and she handed the killer the loaded gun. I hope she and Kenneth are both rotting in prison.
Sources
https://www.leagle.com/decision/inalco20190712021
https://mycrimelibrary.com/lisa-carpenter-graham-women-on-death-row/
https://www.al.com/news/montgomery/2015/11/alabama_mother_sentenced_to_de.html
https://crimethreat.com/lisa-carpenter-graham-death-row-usa/
