Georgia executes Willie James Pye for 1993 Spalding County murder [View all]
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution
CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY
Georgia executes Willie James Pye for 1993 Spalding County murder
Wednesday’s execution was state’s first in more than 4 years
By Jennifer Peebles, Jozsef Papp and Shaddi Abusaid
Updated 7 hours ago
The state of Georgia has executed Willie James Pye for the 1993 rape and murder of his former girlfriend in Spalding County. ... The 59-year-old, who had been on death row nearly three decades, was given a lethal injection of the sedative pentobarbital at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson. ... Pye was executed at 11:03 p.m. Wednesday, making him the 54th prisoner killed by lethal injection in Georgia and the 77th person executed by the state since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976. ... His execution was the first in Georgia in more than four years.
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Pye was convicted of killing Alicia Lynn Yarbrough, who was kidnapped, raped and fatally shot. Her body was discovered on a dirt road Nov. 17, 1993, hours after she was killed. ... A jury convicted Pye on June 6, 1996, and recommended a death sentence the following day.
Pye’s final appeals were denied around 9:50 p.m. by the U.S. Supreme Court, clearing the way for his execution. The high court declined to hear Pye’s request to halt his execution on grounds that an agreement made by the Georgia Attorney General’s Office delaying executions during the COVID-19 pandemic was still in effect and applied to him. Attorneys for the state maintained the agreement did not apply to Pye.
Pye’s lawyers also requested a stay on grounds that he was intellectually disabled, saying his below average IQ made him ineligible for the death penalty. The Supreme Court rejected both appeals.
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Read more: https://www.ajc.com/news/crime/georgia-executes-willie-james-pye-for-1993-spalding-county-murder/D4G3HN6YEBCWFCMITNRLWKMWCU/
