Man seeks clemency to avoid what could be Georgia’s first execution in more than 4 years
By JEFF MARTIN
Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — Lawyers for a Georgia man who’s set to be executed this week say he should not be put to death because he is is intellectually disabled and feels remorse for killing his former girlfriend three decades ago. Fifty-nine-year-old Willie James Pye is set to be put to death Wednesday. It would be Georgia’s first execution in more than four years. A clemency hearing is set for Tuesday. Pye was convicted of murder and other crimes in the November 1993 killing of Alicia Lynn Yarbrough. Pye’s lawyers also cited severe problems in the Spalding County justice system in the 1990s.
