Jake's Mountain Road: The Murder of Jeni Gray, the Kidnapping of Leigh Cooper and the Trial of Daniel Brian Lee

A heinous crime. A genuine heroine. A quest for justice. The defendant, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, led his victim down that old Jake’s Mountain Road and into the valley of the shadow of death. Then he came out alone; he left her there. And now, your path is clear. It is the time to be strong. The State is obliged to ask you to cast out from the living this Daniel Brian Lee, for it was he who dared to pluck the very flower of humanity! —Thomas Rusher, District Attorney for the State of North Carolina You must now be aware, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, that a weakness in the wall of a minute blood vessel in the defendant’s brain set in motion a sequence of events that led to unbelievable human tragedy. You now know the dispensing of justice is not simple and sometimes requires an awesome measure of intelligence, maturity, and compassion. You also know that to execute a brain damaged person is to demean this State and this nation. Has our great State come to that? Have we come to that? —Chester Whittle, Defense Attorney for Daniel Brian Lee