No lab results yet in Giddings slaying

As recent Mercer University law school graduates enter their last full week of studying for the bar exam, Macon police are still waiting on test results that could help determine who killed their classmate.

There was no update Friday on when results of the FBI’s tests on items gathered in Lauren Giddings’ slaying and dismemberment would be returned, said police spokeswoman Jami Gaudet. Police have gathered blood, fiber and fingerprint samples, among other evidence, that the FBI is checking.

“We have conveyed our sense of urgency,” she said in an e-mail. “However, they too want to ensure that they’re correct.”

Giddings, 27, graduated from Mercer’s Walter F. George School of Law in May and was killed while she remained in Macon to study for the bar exam.

Police found Giddings’ torso outside her Georgia Avenue apartment June 30.

Her next-door neighbor and classmate, Stephen Mark McDaniel, remained in the Bibb County jail without bond Friday on two unrelated burglary charges.

Although police have named McDaniel, 25, a person of interest in Giddings’ slaying, he has not been called a suspect.

No date has been set for a hearing requested by McDaniel’s attorney to determine whether Bibb County prosecutors should be disqualified from the case because McDaniel worked in their office as a law clerk.

Earlier this week, police confirmed that they had information early in the investigation about a master key discovered in McDaniel’s apartment. Information about the key became public Wednesday after The Telegraph interviewed a neighbor who lives in the same Barristers Hall apartment building where Giddings and McDaniel lived.

Gaudet said police will not comment on how they think McDaniel obtained the key.

“This is an ongoing investigation,” she said.

While Gaudet said police are continuing to take statements, investigators have not released a timeline of events related to the killing.

Macon Regional CrimeStoppers is offering a $12,000 reward for information in the case. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 751-7500 or CrimeStoppers at (877) 68-CRIME.

To contact writer Amy Leigh Womack, call 744-4398.

This story was originally published July 16, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "No lab results yet in Giddings slaying."