Judith Ann Adams was born on June 7, 1964, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She grew up in a challenging environment. Her father struggled with alcohol addiction. Tragically, he died in a motorcycle accident when Judith was just nine years old. After her father's death, Judith's childhood was marked by instability and hardship.

At the age of 15, Judith met Alvin Neelley, who was 26 at the time. They formed a relationship and married in 1980. Judith's young marriage brought changes in her life. She became involved in criminal activities after she met Alvin. The couple committed armed robberies across the country. Judith even continued her criminal activities while heavily pregnant.

Judith had three children during her life, giving birth to twins while she was incarcerated at the Youth Development Center in Rome, Georgia. 

On September 25, 1982, Judith Ann Neelley and her partner abducted Lisa Ann Millican, a 13-year-old girl, from Riverbend Mall in Rome, Georgia. Lisa was with other children from a facility for neglected youth. After they separated her from her group, the Neelleys coerced her into leaving the mall. They took Lisa to a motel in Scottsboro, Alabama, where they kept her captive. During her captivity, both Judith and her partner raped Lisa multiple times.

On September 28, Judith attempted to poison Lisa using Drano and Liquid-Plumr, injecting her with the substances in various parts of her body. When that did not succeed in killing Lisa, Judith shot her in the back. After the murder, they disposed of Lisa’s body over a cliff in Little River Canyon in Fort Payne, Alabama. Judith later contacted the police multiple times to reveal the location of Lisa's body, which was found draped over a fallen tree.

On October 4, 1982, Judith abducted another victim, Janice Chatman, along with her fiancé, John Hancock. During this incident, Hancock was shot, but he survived. Janice was taken to the same motel where Lisa was held and subsequently tortured and murdered. Hancock was able to identify the Neelleys as his attackers.

Judith was arrested on October 9, 1982, after detective Kenneth Kines spent several weeks tracking her and her partner. Judith's trial for the murder of Lisa Ann Millican began on March 7, 1983, and lasted six weeks. She was convicted of the crime and sentenced to death, despite the jury recommending life in prison. Afterward, Judith pleaded guilty to Janice Chatman's murder.

Judith became the youngest woman on death row in the United States. She was held in the Julia Tutwiler Prison for Women. Her appeal for a new trial was denied in 1987, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld her death sentence in 1989. However, on January 15, 1999, her sentence was commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 15 years. This commutation led to controversy, while Judith stayed incarcerated, and later laws made her ineligible for parole. Her partner, Alvin Neelley, received a life sentence and passed away in prison in 2005.