Judge Murphy was born in 1969 in Denver, Colorado.  She grew up in Canyon, Texas with her parents Mary Christine (Frederickson) and Ronald Charles Lessuck. Judge Murphy is a graduate of Texas State University and Mississippi College School of Law. She is married to Christopher J. Murphy who serves in the South Carolina House of Representatives and they have two sons, Christopher Austin and Jackson Frederick.  

Upon graduating law school in 1995 she joined the Columbia practice of Holler, Dennis, Corbett & Garner as a partner.  In 1998, she joined the First Circuit Solicitors office and rose to the rank of Chief Deputy Solicitor. In 2005, Judge Murphy joined the practice of Quattlebaum and Murphy, L.L.P. as a partner and the practice subsequently became the Murphy Law Firm, L.L.C.  She was appointed to serve as a Magistrate Court Judge in April of 2009 and served as Associate Chief and Chief Magistrate during her tenure.  She was appointed to serve as Dorchester County Master-In-Equity in May of 2011 and was elected to serve on the Circuit Court bench on January 30, 2013. 

Judge Murphy previously served as President, Vice President and Treasurer of the Dorchester County Bar Association and is member of the South Carolina Women's Bar Association.   She is active in her community with having served on the YMCA Board of Directors, the Summerville Rotary Club, and Summerville Meals on Wheels Board of Directors.  Judge Murphy is also active in her sons' sporting and extra curricular activities and is a member of St. Paul's Church in Summerville.