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GoFundMe page for Lauren Giddings' killer removed

The page, titled "Justice for Stephen McDaniel," aimed to raise money for his legal expenses.

UPDATE: The GoFundMe page is now removed from the site.

A family member started a GoFundMe account for the man who pleaded guilty to killing Lauren Giddings seven years ago.

The page, titled "Justice for Stephen McDaniel," aimed to raise money for his legal expenses.

In 2014, he pleaded guilty to killing Giddings and dismembering her body in an apartment near downtown Macon.

They were both Mercer Law students.

McDaniel is now serving a life sentence in prison. He is eligible for parole in 2041.

Earlier this year, he asked for a hearing where he could argue for a new trial.

His petition claimed that his rights to a fair trial were violated when prosecutors got information about legal documents he requested in jail.

But legal experts told 13WMAZ that McDaniel had little chance of overturning his own guilty plea.

The GoFundMe page was apparently started July 12 by his father, Mark McDaniel of Lilburn.

It included a picture of a smiling young Stephen McDaniel and said, "Stephen has been separated from his family for the past 7 years during which he lost three grandparents and was deprived the privilege of seeing and being a part of his brother and sisters' lives."

The page also said an August court hearing has been scheduled to hear McDaniel’s plea for a new trial.

His goal was $5,000. In 12 days, there had been no donations.

The Giddings killing shocked the city and attracted national attention..

During his sentencing, Judge Howard Simms called the crime "truly evil," and a friend of Laurens Giddings told McDaniel, "You are the devil."

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