DAY ONE

Worst killers spared: Two disparate cases

The unrelated murders of Donovan Parks and Lebage Bojang were astonishingly similar — until the punishment.

(ENLARGE)	(ENLARGE)
Wilson	Butts

CASE ONE: THE DEATH PENALTY

Victim: Donovan Parks, 24, prison guard

Killers: Marion Wilson, 19; Robert Earl Butts, 18

The crime: Wilson and Butts asked Parks for a ride outside the Wal-Mart in Milledgeville in 1996. He agreed. After driving away, they ordered Parks to pull over and get out of the car. He was killed with a shotgun blast to the head. It was unclear who pulled the trigger. Wilson and Butts abandoned and burned Parks' Acura. Police found the gun under Wilson's bed.

Sentence: Baldwin County District Attorney Fred Bright said he sought death because the crime was "senseless and horrific."

(ENLARGE)	(ENLARGE)
Stubbins	Blackmon

CASE TWO: LIFE WITH POSSIBLE PAROLE

Victim: Lebage Bojang, 26, college student from Gambia

Killers: Charlie Stubbins, 22; Michael Blackmon, 20

The crime: Stubbins and Blackmon asked for a ride as Bojang and his roommate left a Tifton nightclub in 1995. Bojang pulled the car over on a dead-end street. He and his roommate were each shot four times. Bojang, shot in the stomach and chest, died. It was unclear who fired the fatal shots. Stubbins and Blackmon abandoned and burned Bojang's BMW. Police found the murder weapon under the sofa where Stubbins slept.

Sentence: Tift District Attorney Paul Bowden said he did not have the resources to seek death.