James Neil Tucker (January 12, 1957 – May 28, 2004) was a convicted murderer executed by the U.S. state of South Carolina by means of the electric chair.
He was convicted of the murders of Rosa Lee "Dolly" Oakley and Shannon Lynn Mellon.
The two went to Calhoun County, South Carolina, where in 1984 they worked at the Webb Carroll's Training Center, a horse farm east of St. Matthews.
Rosa Lee "Dolly" Oakley, 54 years old, was gardening in the front yard of her Sumter home on June 25, 1992, when Tucker drove his car up her driveway.
They left, but as they backed down the driveway, she ran out of the house screaming "Don't leave me, he's going to kill me."
According to Tucker,[This quote needs a citation] "I shot her again before I left just because, as stupid as it sounds, I thought she was suffering.
He also continued his burglary, breaking into the Christian Fellowship Church and the mobile homes of Kenneth Parker and Myron Baker.
He hitched rides to St. Matthews, where he stole a station wagon from a funeral home, but abandoned it after getting it stuck in a wooded area.
[citation needed] The cottage was home to Shannon Lynn Mellon, 21 years old, who was training to be a jockey.
[citation needed] In separate trials in 1993 and 1994, Tucker was sentenced to death twice, once for the murder of Mellon and once for Oakley.
His final statement was read by his lawyer:[This quote needs a citation] To everyone, I have thought of a million things to say, but they can all be summed up like this.