December execution halted over clemency conflict-of-interest petition
Georgia prison officials have scheduled the execution of Stacey Humphreys for 7 p.m. on Sept. 16, more than two decades after a jury convicted him of fatally shooting two real estate agents in Atlanta’s suburbs.
The Department of Corrections set the lethal injection for the state prison near Jackson. If carried out, the execution would make Humphreys, 53, the first person executed in Georgia this year.
A jury convicted Humphreys in 2003 of malice murder in the killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown. The two women worked as real estate agents in Atlanta’s suburbs.
Georgia has not carried out an execution since March 2024. Defense lawyers contend that an agreement related to the coronavirus pandemic temporarily shields many death row residents from execution. Litigation over that agreement has largely tied up the death penalty in the state since then.
The Sept. 16 date follows a halted execution attempt in December 2025. Humphreys’ lawyers filed a petition asking a judge to order two members of the State Board of Pardons and Paroles to recuse themselves from his clemency hearing.
The lawyers argued that the two parole board members had conflicts of interest because they had played roles during Humphreys’ trial. The execution was halted after the petition was filed.