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Convicted Lillelid killer appealing case to Tennessee Supreme Court

Court records obtained by NBC-affiliate WCYB show an attorney for Karen R. Howell filed briefs in Nashville on Wednesday following an initial request to the court last month.

One of the five people convicted for the 1997 murders of the Lillelid family in Greene County is appealing her case to the Tennessee Supreme Court.

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Court records obtained by NBC-affiliate WCYB show an attorney for Karen R. Howell filed briefs in Nashville on Wednesday following an initial request to the court last month.

Howell was 17-years-old when she was convicted 20 years ago for the shooting deaths of Vidar, 34, Delfina, 28, and Tabitha Lillelid, 6. Peter Lillelid survived the kidnapping and shooting but was left with spinal cord damage and other injuries.

MORE: Convicted murderers ask for forgiveness in 1997 Lillelid murders

The family was kidnapped from an Interstate 81 rest area and then taken to a remote Greene County road and shot and left in a ditch.

Howell has already lost one appeal in 2013 citing inadequate legal counsel and another appeal filed in April was dismissed in Greene County Criminal Court. Her attorney contended that a Supreme Court ruling on life sentences for juveniles being unconstitutional was enough to allow a post-conviction hearing.

Howell also penned a letter in the spring asking the Lillelid family for forgiveness.

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