by Powder Springs, Georgia — The scheduled execution of a Georgia death row inmate convicted of killing two real estate agents has been abruptly placed on hold, nearly two decades after the crime shocked a suburban Atlanta community and led to one of the state’s most disturbing murder cases.
Stacey Humphreys, 52, was set to be executed by lethal injection on December 17 for the 2003 murders of 21-year-old Lori Brown and 33-year-old Cindy Williams. However, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles issued an order this week suspending the execution, offering no public explanation for the decision.
The move comes just days before Humphreys’ death warrant is set to expire on Christmas Eve, raising new uncertainty about when — or if — the sentence will be carried out.
Details of the 2003 Powder Springs Murders
The killings occurred on November 3, 2003, inside a sales office located in a model home for a new housing subdivision in Cobb County, northwest of Atlanta.
According to prosecutors, Humphreys entered the office around 12:40 p.m., initially encountering Cindy Williams alone. At gunpoint, he forced her to strip naked, demanded her debit card and PIN, and ordered her to the floor behind a desk. She was then shot once in the back and again in the head, authorities said.
Shortly afterward, Lori Brown returned to the office. Prosecutors stated Humphreys immediately attacked her, forced her to undress, took her debit card information, and shot her execution-style in the back of the head.
A builder working at the site later discovered the bodies, triggering a multi-state manhunt.
Arrest and Conviction
Witness tips placed Humphreys and his truck at the crime scene. When officers attempted to arrest him at his grandmother’s home — where he was living at the time — Humphreys fled.
He was eventually captured more than 800 miles away in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, following a high-speed police chase.
During trial, then-prosecutor Mark Cella described Humphreys as having “an abandoned and malignant heart.” Prosecutors argued the motive was financial, telling jurors the women were killed so Humphreys could keep up with truck payments.
In 2007, a jury convicted Humphreys and sentenced him to death.
Execution Halted Without Explanation
This week’s decision by the State Board of Pardons and Paroles to suspend the execution was issued without comment, a standard practice for the board, which is not required to provide reasons for its rulings.
The Georgia Attorney General’s Office has not indicated whether prosecutors will seek to reinstate the execution before the current death warrant expires. If that deadline passes, the state would be required to request a new death warrant to proceed.
Juror Misconduct Claims Reach the Supreme Court
In recent months, Humphreys’ attorneys have renewed arguments that his death sentence was the result of serious juror misconduct, an issue that reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
Court filings allege that only one juror initially supported the death penalty, and that juror failed to disclose her own past experience as a victim of a similar crime during jury selection. Defense attorneys claim she later pressured and intimidated other jurors into changing their votes.
In an October dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson, described the alleged misconduct as “extreme.” Sotomayor wrote that it appeared the juror’s actions “singlehandedly changed the verdict from life without parole to death.”
According to the dissent, jury deliberations became chaotic, with screaming heard outside the courtroom, jurors crying, and one altercation reportedly ending with a hole punched in a wall. Sotomayor argued the case should be reconsidered by a lower court, but the majority declined to intervene.
Broader Impact and National Context
The pause in Humphreys’ execution comes amid a sharp increase in U.S. executions this year, a trend experts attribute to a more conservative Supreme Court and strong political support for capital punishment in some states.
Later this week, Florida is scheduled to execute Frank Athen Walls, which would mark the 47th execution nationwide this year, the highest total since 2009. Florida alone has carried out 19 executions, the most in state history for a single year.
As Georgia officials weigh their next steps, the Humphreys case underscores the legal complexities and enduring debates surrounding the death penalty — particularly when questions of jury conduct and due process emerge decades after a conviction.
What are your thoughts on the decision to halt the execution at this stage? Share your views in the comments below.
