By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

A Chelsea man charged with murdering his grandmother in 2012 has requested to be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Daniel Scott Gentry, 27, stated his request to receive a life sentence with possible parole in a letter filed in Shelby County Circuit Court and addressed to Circuit Judge Bill Bostick and the Alabama Attorney General’s Office earlier this month.

“I am sending a request for a life sentence with the chance at parole and possibly release,” Gentry wrote. “If you will except (sic) my request for a life sentence with a chance at parole, please sentence me quickly. I am in solitary confinement and have been for over nine months. However, I cannot except (sic) a life with out parole sentence. I am hoping your office will have mercy on me and save my family from a trial.”

Gentry was indicted on a capital murder charge in June 2012 in the death of his grandmother, Carrie Elaine Gentry, also of Chelsea.

Carrie Elaine Gentry was reported missing March 29, 2012, and her body was found in a vehicle submerged in an abandoned Leeds quarry April 10. Former Shelby County District Attorney Robby Owens said she was allegedly stabbed, struck with a hammer and possibly strangled.

Daniel Gentry pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect to the capital murder charge during his arraignment before Bostick in July 2012.

Bostick did not set a trial date during the arraignment, and said Gentry will have to have a mental evaluation by the state.

“I do not feel that waiting until a few weeks before trial is proper to handle all that is needed to be done in my case,” Gentry wrote. “No one except me has been requesting my medical records. And I feel a head exam is extremely necessary in my case.
“I do not wish to go beyond my attorney’s knowledge,” he wrote. “But I am anxious and cautiously preparing for the scenario that no plea agreement will be met, because week and week goes by and no plea offer has been made.”

At the time of Gentry’s indictment in June 2012, Owens said the indictment alleges that Daniel Gentry entered Carrie Elaine Gentry’s home with intent to commit murder and burglary.

Daniel Gentry lived in a house on the same property as his grandmother’s home.

“I cannot explain all of my thoughts at the time of this tragic incident, though a terrible mistake was made,” Gentry wrote. “Even though I know that I was not of sound mind I would like to respectfully request and I will respectfully accept a life sentence with the chance at parole and possible release.”