No clemency for Georgia man convicted of killing 2 real estate agents in 2003
The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles cleared the way Tuesday for the execution of a man who fatally shot two real estate agents more than two decades ago.
The board denied granting clemency to Stacey Humphreys, who was sentenced to death in 2007 for the 2003 killings of Cyndi Williams and Lori Brown, who were strangled and then shot to death in the model home of a Powder Springs subdivision.
One of the members of the board was excluded from the vote after Humphreys’ defense team argued her role as an advocate for the victims’ families during Humphreys’ trial nearly 20 years ago created a conflict of interest.
The inmate’s legal defense team and opponents of the death penalty criticized the board for moving forward with a vote with only four members, contending that a recusal from one member is effectively an automatic no vote.
“There should be no shortcuts when imposing the ultimate punishment,” Humphreys’ legal defense team said in a statement.
Humphreys still has a pending appeal before Georgia’s Supreme Court over the question of whether a four-person clemency board is fair.
A unanimous decision by the board is not needed, only a majority. The board has held six clemency hearings since October 2019, granting clemency only once — to Jimmy Fletcher Meders, whose death sentence was commuted to life without parole in January 2020.
In March, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that board member Kimberly McCoy had a conflict and must recuse herself. Amid the legal fight, McBurney halted Humphreys’ execution, previously scheduled for December 2025.
McBurney rejected another argument from Humphreys’ attorneys that Vice Chair Wayne V. Bennett should also be recused.
Bennett was the Glynn County sheriff in charge of courthouse security in Brunswick, where the murder trial was held because of pretrial publicity in Cobb. He voted Tuesday.
McBurney also rejected Humphreys’ argument that his clemency bid must be decided by a full board, saying the Georgia Constitution requires a quorum of just three members.
A petition filed by his attorneys with the U.S. Supreme Court is pending.
The board is the only entity in state government with the power to commute a death sentence. Tuesday’s clemency hearing was closed to the public and board members cast their votes in secret.
Attorneys, a few family members, a mental health expert and others were slated to support his clemency request, according to records submitted by Humphreys’ legal team. The list of witnesses opposing his request was not disclosed. Before voting, members hear from witnesses and consider the evidence presented and other information revealed through years of litigation.
Humphreys’ attorneys argued in a 2025 clemency application that 11 out of the dozen trial jurors were set to sentence him to life without parole until a potentially biased juror intervened.
The board’s decision comes amid a flurry of eleventh-hour legal maneuvering attempting to halt Humphreys’ execution. Barring any last-minute intervention, he is expected to be put to death after 7 p.m. Wednesday in Jackson.
If carried out, Humphreys would be the first person executed in Georgia this year and the 55th Georgia inmate put to death by lethal injection. The last person executed by the state was Willie James Pye in March 2024.