Execution date set for man convicted of killing 2 real estate agents near Atlanta in 2003

According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, Stacey Humphreys, 53, is set to be executed by lethal injection on September 16 at a state prison near Jackson. Humphreys was convicted of malice murder in the 2003 shootings of two real estate agents, Cyndi Williams and Lori Brown, near Atlanta. The death penalty in Georgia has been mired in legal challenges, with the last execution occurring in March 2024.

Humphreys' execution was initially scheduled for December of last year but was halted after his legal team filed a petition asking a judge to recuse two members of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles from reviewing his clemency request. They claimed these two members, Kimberly McCoy and Wayne Bennett, had conflicts of interest due to their roles in the trial.

Judge Robert McBurney granted the recusal of McCoy but found Bennett's conflict less significant. The judge also denied Humphreys' request for a substitute board member and an extended clemency hearing, citing the finality of the death penalty and the five-member panel tradition.