Local News
Local News

Clemency denied for Cook

By Bill Rankin
Feb 20, 2013

The State Board of Pardons and Paroles on Wednesday said it has denied clemency to Andrew Cook, who is scheduled to be executed Thursday for killing of two Mercer University students.

Cook was sentenced to death for the Jan. 2, 1995, shooting deaths of Grant Patrick Hendrickson and Michele Lee Cartagena in Monroe County.

It is the second time in two days the parole board denied a condemned killer’s clemency request. On Tuesday, the board rejected pleas to commute Warren Hill’s death sentence, although the state and federal appeals courts later granted Hill a stay of execution.

Cook is scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

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.

Follow Bill Rankin on twitter
More Stories

The Latest

A scratch-off player recently won a $2,777,777 top prize, according to Georgia Lottery officials. The ticket was purchased in Palmetto. (AJC file)

Credit: AP

‘Blazing Hot’ scratch-off player wins cool $2.7 million from Georgia Lottery

41m ago

Snow likely in North Georgia mountains as Arctic blast freezes metro Atlanta

2h ago

No body of proof: How Georgia homicide cases are solved without remains

Featured

Passengers wait at a Delta check-in counter at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport domestic terminal on Friday, Nov. 7, 2025, the first day of the Federal Aviation Administration cutting flight capacity at airports during the government shutdown. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Mass cancellations hit Atlanta airport, shutdown causes uncertainty

Air travel is struggling as the government shutdown causes hassles and uncertainty for travelers, disruptions for airlines and even less wiggle room to recover from problems.

ICE raids, calls for boycott: Home Depot on frontlines of Trump crackdown

As ICE ratchets up arrests to meet Trump administration objectives, few private companies have become as associated with the crackdown as Home Depot. But does it play a role?

Comedian Katt Williams defeats women’s suit over Midtown brawl

With a legal technicality, Georgia-based comedian Katt Williams has dodged a lawsuit filed by four women who claim he violently assaulted them outside an Atlanta club.