McDaniel Responds To Wrongful Death Lawsuit

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — According to a federal court filing, slain Mercer Law graduate Lauren Gidding’s accused killer Stephen McDaniel denied that he murdered and dismembered Giddings.

Tuesday, Floyd Buford one of McDaniel’s attorneys filed McDaniel’s answer to the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Lauren’s parents, William and Karen Giddings.

On June 17, the Giddings filed a 23 page complaint for damages of wrongful death, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and unlawful interference with right of burial. In those documents they requested permission to search property owned by McDaniel’s late grandfather, Hollis Browning. The lawsuit claimed McDaniel went to the property sometime in 2011 and “surveyed the property for locations where he could scatter dismembered body parts through the woods in accordance with his murder plan.”

The 13 page document filed on behalf of McDaniel demands that he be given a trial by jury. McDaniel also wants “strict proof from the plaintiffs as to all allegations set forth in their complaint.” He is demanding that all costs be paid for by the Giddings and that he be given any further relief deemed “just and appropriate” by a judge.

The Giddings family is represented by Kristin S. Miller and Richard A. Schneider, both are attorneys in Atlanta.

McDaniel is accused of killing Giddings in June 2011.