Same crime, different outcome

ARMED ROBBERY (BUSINESS)

Appling County
Warren King and his cousin forced a clerk to hand over the keys to a convenience store after she closed up. An alarm went off and King shot the clerk, who knew him, in the parking lot. His co-defendant said King, 18, exclaimed, "I hope I killed the bitch." A jury gave him death.

Chatham County
Vincent Carero shot and killed the owner of Shady's Food Store, allowing a co-defendant to grab the day's receipts. A day earlier, Carero, 19, and an accomplice had robbed an elderly couple who ran a nearby laundromat. Carero confessed. Prosecutors did not seek death.

MURDERS FOR HIRE*

Gwinnett County
Kelly Brookshire Gissendaner talked her lover into killing her husband for the insurance money. Gregory Bruce Owen led Gissendaner's husband into a wooded area, beat him with a nightstick and stabbed him. Owen took the man's watch and wedding ring to make it look like a robbery. Owen testified against Gissendaner in exchange for a life sentence with the possibility of parole. A jury sentenced her to death

Chatham County
Edgar Lynn Pike told his daughter's boyfriend that he could move into the family's home if he killed Pike's wife. Pike said he expected to receive insurance money. After Pike provided a knife, gloves and a ride to his wife's parked van, Ashanti Priester stabbed her repeatedly as she begged for her life. Pike and Priester both pleaded guilty in exchange for life with the possibility of parole. Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.

HOME INVASIONS

Spalding County
Kenneth Earl Fults went on a burglary spree, looking for guns. He planned to kill his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend, but broke into a neighbor's home instead. The woman there begged for her life and offered him the rings off her fingers. He taped her eyes shut, covered her head with a pillow and shot her five times in the head. Fults pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death.

Hart County
Calvin Dwight Teasley broke into an 82-year-old woman's home, sexually assaulted her and strangled her before fleeing with her car and VCR. Teasley, who admitted his involvement, had fatally stabbed a woman weeks earlier. Teasley pleaded guilty in exchange for life without parole.

SEX CRIMES

Lumpkin County
Timothy Woodrow Pruitt's ex-wife kicked him out of her trailer one night after he had been drinking. He broke into the trailer next door, raped and sodomized a 10-year-old girl, then stabbed her and cut her throat, nearly severing her head. DNA and blood evidence linked Pruitt to the murder. A jury gave him death.

Dougherty County
Cody Lee Humphrey tried to rape an 11-year-old neighbor. He hit her in the head with an iron and cut her throat, leaving her body with 42 stab wounds. Her 5-year-old sister identified Humphrey, who told a cellmate what he had done. Three women testified he had molested or assaulted them as children. Prosecutors did not seek death.

MULTIPLE MURDERS

Hall County
Scotty Garnell Morrow's girlfriend dumped him because of his abusive behavior. When she wouldn't take him back, he beat her, then shot and killed her in front of her 5-year-old son. He also shot two of her friends, killing one. A jury gave Morrow death.

Fulton County
Deunte Parks broke into his ex-girlfriend's home after she ended their abusive relationship. He fatally shot her and her aunt and wounded two of her friends. Authorities believed Parks may have shot his ex-girlfriend in the back as she was shielding their 3-year-old daughter. Prosecutors did not seek death.