My family and I wanted something in return for testifying again, however, we were told by the DA's office, "there's nothing we can do.  If you don't testify there's a good chance she will walk."  We still don't believe there's nothing they could do, but after much heartache and the fear that she could walk , I testified again .  It almost didn't matter, as the jury almost let her walk anyway.  Eventually the outcome was a plea of 2nd degree murder with a first degree accessory which brought a total of 22 years.  She had already served four, to seventeen years for actually killing her own mother!

THAT IS WHAT FREE JEREMY IS ALL ABOUT!

I freely stood up for my part in this horrific act.  It it had not been for her, I never would have had any reason to do such a thing.  To this day I regret  having ever met this girt and been so emotionally embroiled in  a situation that it caused me to lose focus of all I had been taught and knew to be wrong.  I do not feel I should have to spend the rest of my life in prison when  she has the opportunity to be released.  I was promised that whatever she got, I would get.  I abetted, but I did not wield the murder weapon.  I just want the same treatment and release as her.

In fifteen years, I will be forty-two years old.  I would like an opportunity to begin a life outside of prison.  I was only half of that team and I had no reason to take part in the act if not for her.  If there are any of you out there who would like to hear the details of this journey my family and I have waded through, I need support for our cause and someone with power and a sense of fairness to take an interest in our plight.

 

My Story

I am Jeremy Dunlap. I am currently serving a life sentence for having participated in a 

terrible crime. Seven years ago I was twenty years old and dating a girl of seventeen I thought 

I was madly in love. Late one night, my girlfriend let me into her basement bedroom through a 

window. Naturally, we had sex. Unfortunately, her mother entered her room as we were lying 

there and proceeded, like any mother, to become enragedl I heard her say she would be telling 

her father in the morning and all the while I was hurrying to get my clothes on to leave.

I did not totally leave, however. I basically hung around in the neighborhood, catnapping in my car.

I watched the house until I saw her father leave for work and her mother leave for an errand. What

ensued was a conversation on how to handle this situation. She said she just wanted to kill her mother and she was serious.

We bantered around ideas, as I thought the killing part had to be a joke. It wasn't! In all the in-

tensity of that day, we did end up killing her mother and attempted to dispose of the body. It was

a horrible choice and unbelievable to this day.

I do not want to get into all the details in one sitting, but suffice it to say, that a

due to poor representation and pressure to remove the potential for the death penalty as a

choice for the jury, I entered a plea agreement with the state for a life sentence without the poss-

ibilty of parole. By pleading guilty and helping the state, I could be assured my life.

I was told repeatedly that whatever she got, I would get or vice versa. By removing the

possibility of death from me, she benefitted also. She was tried in 2001 and convicted of 1st 

degree murder and given life without. However, because she had the benefit of a trial, she was

eligible for appeal.

In 2005, the appellate court voted 2-against and 1-for overturning her sentence on a tech-

nicality (which I will elaborate on another time). Evidently, at the appellate level, all three judges have

to be in agreement, or the case is overturned. She was also awarded a change of venue. I was

then brought to Marion, NC then sent to Hendersonville jail, against my will to testify against 

her once again.