Freda McKay Medlin, 45, of Nash County, North Carolina, was found dead in a ditch alongside a road on September 1, 2005. Passersby initially thought the body showed signs of having been struck by a vehicle, but authorities later determined she had been shot.

Investigators established that Medlin was in a relationship with James Wesley Stallings. Stallings confessed to the shooting and was convicted of first-degree murder; his conviction was upheld and he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Witnesses testified to seeing Stallings at the scene and forensic evidence linked him to the crime.

The case drew attention because of the relationship between victim and perpetrator and the circumstances in which her body was found.