Clemency denied to death-row inmate
The State Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday denied clemency to Marcus Wellons, who is scheduled to be executed Tuesday night for the rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl.
Wellons sits on death row for the Aug. 31, 1989, abduction and killing of India Roberts not long after she said goodbye to her mother and headed out to catch the school bus.
Wellons is scheduled to die by lethal injection Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.
His lawyers are now appealing a ruling last week by a Fulton County judge who rejected Wellons’ contention that the prison system has an illegally obtained prescription for the pentobarbital to be used for the execution. On another front, Wellons’ lawyers are attacking the method of execution during a hearing on Monday in federal court in Atlanta.
About the Author
Bill Rankin has been an AJC reporter for more than 30 years. His father, Jim Rankin, worked as an editor for the newspaper for 26 years, retiring in 1986. Bill has primarily covered the state’s court system, doing all he can do to keep the scales of justice on an even keel. Since 2015, he has been the host of the newspaper’s Breakdown podcast.
