STOVER, STEWART & PHILLIPS in association with Mary Simmons Law Firm obtained a settlement consisting of $1,577,171 cash and a house and about 100 acres of property valued at about $500,000. Judge Rhea, who approved the settlement, stated that it was the largest wrongful death settlement from a criminal case that he's aware of in Etowah County.
The settlement is the result of a wrongful death suit filed after Nathaniel Lee and Andrew Smiley were charged with the thrill killing of a 15-year-old, Blake Stone. Lee and Smiley were arrested in July 2008 on charges of murder and abuse of a corpse. Lee plead guilty in 2010 and was sentenced to 30 years for murder and 10 years for abuse of a corpse. Lee admitted to shooting Blake Stone and buring him in a shallow grave. Later he and Smiley dug up Blake Stone's body and put it in a freezer at Lee's home. Smiley plead guilty to murder in November 2011 and received a 20-year sentence for murder and 5-years for abusing a corpse.