Particle.news

Federal Judge Rejects Stay as Georgia Sets Dec. 17 Execution for Stacey Humphreys

Clemency arguments go to the state parole board on Dec. 16 with a medical-accommodation request to the lethal-injection protocol still unresolved.

Overview

  • Humphreys, 52, was condemned for the 2003 murders of real estate agents Cyndi Williams, 33, and Lori Brown, 21, in Powder Springs.
  • U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May denied an emergency stay after finding no due process or equal protection violation tied to a pandemic-era executions agreement.
  • Courts have said the agreement covers only cases with 11th Circuit rehearing denials during the COVID-19 judicial emergency, which ended in June 2021; Humphreys’ denial came in October 2024.
  • His lawyers seek permission for him to sit upright or stand during the injection due to breathing risks documented by a physician, and the state’s response remains pending.
  • Officials set the execution for 7 p.m. Dec. 17 at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, released his last-meal request, and noted it would be the state’s first execution of 2025 and 55th by lethal injection.