Giddings’ remains released to family

For many of Lauren Giddings’ classmates, Tuesday was a day they had long ago marked on their calendars.

It was the first day of bar exam testing.

Giddings, 27, stayed in Macon after her May graduation from Mercer University law school to study for the exam.

But for her friends and family, Tuesday also marked the day when Giddings’ remains were released to a funeral home for cremation.

Giddings’ sister, Kaitlyn Wheeler, described the day as bittersweet, when reached by telephone.

In the days after police found Giddings’ dismembered body June 30, her family encouraged Giddings’ friends to keep studying for the bar -- even to use it as a distraction from their anxiety and sorrow, Wheeler said.

“We know that’s what Lauren would have wanted,” she said.

Nearly a month after police recovered Giddings’ torso outside her Barristers Hall apartment building, Macon police still have not received results of lab tests being performed in by FBI technicians on more than 200 pieces of evidence.

Police have scheduled a Wednesday morning news conference to update aspects of the case.

Officers haven’t made an arrest in the slaying, but they have named Giddings’ classmate and neighbor, 25-year-old Stephen Mark McDaniel, as a person of interest. McDaniel is being held at the Bibb County jail on two unrelated burglary charges.

Arrangements for Giddings’ Aug. 6 funeral at St. Mary of the Mills Church in Laurel, Md., are being finalized. Giddings attended religious services and school at the church, Wheeler said.

A fund has been established at the church to help the Giddings family pay unexpected expenses related to the funeral and travel, she said.

Money from the Lauren Teresa Giddings Family fund also will be used for a donation in Giddings’ name to the Special Olympics. Her godson, Ory, has Down syndrome, Wheeler said.

Donations in Giddings’ name also have been accepted at Agnes Scott College, where Giddings completed her undergraduate degree, said Megan Terraso, a college spokeswoman.

The gifts will be used to establish a fund in the future with a purpose determined by the Giddings family, she said.

A scholarship also is being established at Mercer University, Wheeler said.

University spokesman Mark Vanderhoek confirmed Tuesday that Mercer donated $10,000 of the $12,000 CrimeStoppers reward offered for tips related to Giddings’ slaying.

Wheeler said her family members are thankful for the outpouring of kindness and support they’ve received from people in Middle Georgia.

“We have received so many cards and letters from people we don’t even know,” she said.

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

This story was originally published July 27, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Giddings’ remains released to family."