Heath McCray was sentenced to death by the State of Alabama for the murder of Brandy Jean Bachelder
According to court documents McCray would get into an argument with Brandy Jean Bachelder that turned violent and he would stab the woman to death
McCray would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
McCray would be resentenced to life if prison
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Where Is Heath McCray Now
Heath McCray is incarcerated at Holman Prison
Heath McCray Case
An Alabama judge ordered a Dothan murderer to be taken off death row under a deal reached between Heath Lavon McCray and prosecutors after McCray argued that the state killing him would be unconstitutional.
McCray, who was sentenced to death after being convicted in 2006 of capital murder for stabbing and strangling his girlfriend, 27-year-old Brandy Jean Bachelder, inside her Dothan trailer in 2005, argued that he has intellectual disabilities and that killing him would constitute cruel and unusual punishment.
While McCray did not make the intellectual disability claim during his pre-sentencing hearing or in his appeal of his death sentence, he filed a petition in January 2013 challenging his sentence on various grounds.
As McCray and prosecutors disputed the inmate’s claim, the state said it would ask for the killer to be resentenced in exchange for him dropping challenges to his conviction and sentence.
McCray agreed to the deal Aug. 25, according to prosecutors’ proposed motion Tuesday to Houston County Circuit Court Judge Kevin Moulton asking for the death row inmate to be sentenced to life in prison without parole.
On Friday, Moulton resentenced McCray to life without parole, according to court records.
