Willie James Pye, 59, was convicted of murder and other crimes in the November 1993 killing of Alicia Lynn Yarbrough.
The planned lethal injection using the sedative pentobarbital is set to happen at 7 p.m. at the state prison in Jackson.
In their request for clemency, Pye’s lawyers called the 1996 trial “a shocking relic of the past” and said the local public defender system had severe shortcomings in the 1990s.
“Had defense counsel not abdicated his role, the jurors would have learned that Mr. Pye is intellectually disabled and has an IQ of 68,” they said.
Defendants who are intellectually disabled are ineligible for execution.
Experts said that Pye meets the criteria, but that the burden of proof in Georgia was too high to reach, his lawyers argued.
The Georgia Parole Board rejected those arguments after a closed-door meeting Tuesday and denied Pye’s bid for clemency.
Pye had been in an on-and-off romantic relationship with Yarbrough, but at the time she was killed, she was living with another man.
Pye, Chester Adams and a 15-year-old had planned to rob that man and bought a handgun before heading to a party in a nearby town, prosecutors have said.
The trio left the party around midnight and went to the house where Yarbrough lived, finding her alone with her baby.
They forced their way into the house, stole a ring and necklace from Yarbrough, and forced her to come with them, leaving the baby alone, prosecutors have said.
The group drove to a motel, where they raped Yarbrough and then left the motel with her in the car, prosecutors said.
They turned onto a dirt road and Pye ordered Yarbrough out of the car, made her lie face down and shot her three times, according to court filings.
Yarbrough’s body was found on Nov. 17, 1993, a few hours after she was killed.
Pye, Adams and the teenager were quickly arrested.
Pye and Adams denied knowing anything about Yarbrough’s death, but the teenager confessed and implicated the other two.
The teenager reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and was the main witness at Pye’s trial.
A jury in June 1996 found Pye guilty of murder, kidnapping, armed robbery, rape and burglary, and sentenced him to death.
Pye’s lawyers have argued in court filings that prosecutors relied heavily on the teenager’s testimony but that he later gave inconsistent statements.
Such statements, as well as Pye’s testimony during trial, indicate that Yarbrough left the home willingly and went to the motel to trade sex for drugs, the lawyers said in court filings.
Lawyers representing Pye also wrote in court filings that their client was raised in extreme poverty in a home without indoor plumbing or enough food, shoes or clothing.
His childhood was characterized by neglect and abuse by family members who were often drunk, his lawyers wrote.
His lawyers also argued that Pye suffered from frontal lobe brain damage, potentially caused by fetal alcohol syndrome, which harmed his planning ability and impulse control.
Pye’s lawyers had long argued in courts that he should be resentenced because his trial lawyer didn’t adequately prepare for the sentencing phase of his trial.
His legal team argued that the original trial attorney failed to sufficiently investigate his “life, background, physical and psychiatric health” to present mitigating evidence to the jury during sentencing.
A federal judge rejected those claims, but a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with Pye’s lawyers in April 2021.
Then the case was reheard by the full federal appeals court, which overturned the panel ruling in October 2022.
Pye’s co-defendant Adams, now 55, pleaded guilty in April 1997 to charges of malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, armed robbery, rape and aggravated sodomy.
He got five consecutive life prison sentences and remains behind bars.
ATLANTA (AP) — On Wednesday, a Georgia man who was found guilty of the murder of his ex-girlfriend thirty years ago is set to be executed. This will mark the state’s first execution in over four years.
After killing Alicia Lynn Yarbrough in November 1993, Willie James Pye, then 59, was found guilty of murder and other offenses. At 7 p.m., a lethal injection of the sedative pentobarbital is scheduled to take place. M. at the Jackson state prison.
Pye’s attorneys made harsh accusations against the local public defender system in the 1990s and referred to the 1996 trial as “a shocking relic of the past” in their plea for clemency.
“The jury would have been informed that Mr. Pye has an IQ of 68 and is intellectually disabled if defense counsel had not resigned from his position,” they claimed.
Those who are intellectually disabled as defendants cannot be executed. Experts concluded that Pye satisfies the requirements, but his attorneys contended that the Georgian burden of proof was too great.
Following a meeting behind closed doors on Tuesday, the Georgia Parole Board dismissed those arguments and turned down Pye’s request for clemency.
Although Pye and Yarbrough had a romantic relationship that had come and gone, Pye was living with another man when she was killed. Before going to a party in a nearby town, Pye, Chester Adams, and a 15-year-old had planned to rob that man and purchase a handgun, according to the prosecution.
At around midnight, the three of them left the party and went to Yarbrough’s house, where they discovered her by herself with her infant. According to prosecutors, they forcibly entered the home, took a ring and necklace from Yarbrough, and made her accompany them, leaving the infant unattended.
Prosecutors said that after leaving the motel with Yarbrough in the car, the group drove to another location where they sexually assaulted her. According to court documents, after they turned onto a dirt road, Pye told Yarbrough to get out of the car, forced her to lie face down, and shot her three times.
Nov. saw the discovery of Yarbrough’s body. 17, 1993, just hours after her demise. Pye, Adams, and the adolescent were taken into custody without delay. Although Yarbrough’s adolescent confessed and implicated Pye and Adams, they both denied knowing anything about his death.
The young person and the prosecution came to a plea deal, and the teen testified principally in Pye’s trial. In June 1996, a jury convicted Pye of murder, kidnapping, rape, armed robbery, and burglary and sentenced him to death.
In court documents, Pye’s attorneys have contended that although the teenager’s testimony was heavily relied upon by the prosecution, Pye later made contradictory statements. According to the lawyers’ court filings, Pye’s testimony during the trial and these statements suggest that Yarbrough left the house voluntarily and went to the motel in order to exchange drugs for sex.
Pye’s attorneys also stated in court documents that their client was brought up in abject poverty, lacking access to enough food, clothing, shoes, or other necessities, as well as indoor plumbing. According to what his lawyers wrote, he was abused and neglected as a child by inebriated family members.
Additionally, Pye’s attorneys contended that his inability to plan ahead of time and regulate his impulses was due to brain damage to the frontal lobe, which may have resulted from fetal alcohol syndrome.
Due to his trial attorney’s inadequate preparation for the sentencing phase of Pye’s trial, Pye’s attorneys had long argued in court that Pye should receive a new sentence. In order to provide the jury with mitigating evidence during sentencing, his legal team contended that the first trial attorney did not adequately investigate his “life, background, physical and psychiatric health.”.
Those claims were denied by a federal judge, but an 11th U.S. Circuit panel of three judges upheld the decision. S. Pye’s attorneys won in April 2021, according to the Circuit Court of Appeals. After that, in October 2022, the panel decision was overturned by the full federal appeals court, which reheard the case.
Adams, the current 55-year-old co-defendant of Pye, entered a guilty plea in April 1997 to charges of rape, armed robbery, malice murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, and aggravated sodomy. He received five consecutive life sentences and is still incarcerated.
